Eternity
by Kessafan
Summary: Sequel to 'Spirit Bound Until Death'. Please read that story first so you know what's happening... : I hope you enjoy this one as much as the first story.
1. Paris

**Chapter One.**

**Paris.**

I found my seat and sat down, Dimitri sat beside me. We sat there for a while just looking at each other, we didn't speak; we just smiled like love struck teenagers. Neither of us could believe what was happening. Then he turned his body towards me and put a hand on my stomach. "It really is a miracle, isn't it Rose? We really have created a life together," he said with the most amazed look on his face. "The life of _our_ baby; yours and mine." But before I could answer him my head started to pound.

"Oh no.... Here they come!" I said holding my head. Dimitri put a hand on my cheek and called Lissa over.

"Rose," she said, "Before it gets too bad, let me make you sleep." I shook my head slightly before answering.  
"No, wait. It's not that bad. It's not like before." Instead of the normal black splotches and head splitting pain, all I saw this time was just one ghost, "Eddie!" I yelled.  
"I thought...... I thought you were gone, don't get me wrong I love that you're here, but it's more than a month since you died." He held up his hand and shook his head; his face was so sad. He tried to speak but as usual, it was too hard.  
He pointed to me, "Is it about me? Am I in danger?" he nodded his head slowly, and then he pointed to Lissa.  
Fear shot through me, "Lissa too?" He held out his hand, palm down and lowered his hand. I couldn't work out what he meant and I shook my head.  
"I don't understand, can you try to talk?" he opened his mouth to try but nothing would come out.  
"It's alright," I said. Just then his image started to flicker and his face suddenly became anxious and then he pointed back to me and then Lissa and again he did the same hand movement. I didn't understand but before I could say anymore, he faded away and with him when my headache. I just stared at the back of the seat in front of me.

"Roza?" said Dimitri from beside me. I turned to look into his worried eyes. "What did he say? You and Lissa are in danger?" I nodded.

"He couldn't talk; he just kept doing this...." I showed them the hand movement that he'd done and none of them could understand either. It worried me a bit that I didn't know when this danger was coming, but I hoped that I would see him again soon, headache or not, I hoped he would come back and tell me what was going on but I didn't like the look of that flickering. It's what happened the last time I'd seen Mason. We all talked about my visit for a while longer but when nothing could be determined, Liss changed the subject to my morning sickness.

"So, it wasn't me after all..." she said with a smirk.

"Yeah it was....to start with. I'm only six weeks you know."

"Isn't it amazing" she whispered looking between Dimitri and I... "Isn't it amazing what spirit has done? I used to think it was curse, but now......after all the bad side effects, it's paved the way for a miracle." The wonder of her realisation was plain on her face, and her feelings of joy and happiness radiated through our bond, she was proud that she played a part in this.

Dimitri squeezed my hand and I looked at him and saw the same look on his face as was on Lissa's. The worry about Eddie's visit was pushed into the far recesses of my mind. "Yes, it is a miracle, one I'll cherish forever." He said looking at me then I felt his hand on my stomach. I couldn't tear my eyes away from his; I was transfixed by the depth of his feelings.

"Ooo!" I heard from beside us. "Get a room you two!" We both turned to look up at Christian's face.

I couldn't let that pass.... "Well, Christian, we would if we could, but as we are limited in our options, we could always just give you a free lesson..." I heard Dimitri snicker softly beside me and Liss through the bond.

"Buffy..." he said, "I think you have it the wrong way around. If there's any lessons to be taught on _that_ subject....." the smirk spread across his face as he held his hands up and shrugged his shoulders... "I'm the bomb!" With that, everyone roared with laughter, and in my current condition, I nearly peed myself... It was so good to laugh like this again. I looked at Lissa and she had a weird look on her face.

"What?" I asked her.

"Nothing, it's just your aura. There's hardly any black at all." She smiled... "It's the most colourful I've ever seen it. Red, maroon, white, a touch of purple.... Hgh!"

"Hgh, what?" I asked....

"I've never seen that before on a Dhampir. You have gold in your aura, just a little bit around...." she looked at my eyes and then back down, "your body. Wow!" I wasn't quite sure what to make of that, maybe the happiness I am feeling right now has overpowered the darkness for once.

"Liss, we need to talk about what's going to happen when I can't guard you anymore. We don't know how long this pregnancy will be, but it looks like it's going to be six months like a Moroi pregnancy."

"I know, that's why I asked you mom to take over when we get back. Didn't she tell you that?"

"Yeah, she did."

"Everything will work our Rose." She said confidently.

"Roza. We'll work this out I promise. No-one has to lose anything; you can still be Lissa's guardian. Between us all, this little Choodo will want for nothing." I wondered what that meant... I was so going to have to study Russian.

_He said Miracle... _Lissa told me. My grin apparently told the others that Liss had let me in on what he'd said... after all, of the four of us; I was the only one who didn't know how to speak Russian. Christian and Liss had studied it at the Academy. The rest of the flight we talked about the babies, Lissa was only eight weeks off having her twins and we discussed what names she'd pick if they were boys or girls. I didn't say anything about the fact that some time ago, I'd searched the internet for Russian baby names.... I was supposed to be doing some research at the library and found myself dreaming of what a baby of Dimitri's would look like and what I would name it. I never believed that one day it would actually happen.

We talked about what would happen when I got further into the pregnancy and what we wanted to happen after he or she was born. By the time we were ready to land, I felt positive that it would all work out. The pilot came on the radio to say that we would be landing in half an hour. Lissa & Christian didn't have time to feed before we left so a couple of feeders came with us, so they were going to feed now, I wanted to stretch my legs so I went with them. When we walked back to where they were I smiled and shook my head, Alice had been one of the feeders to come with us.

"Rosemarie, it's so nice to see you again. It's been a while." She said.

"Hi Alice, how are you going? I didn't expect to see you here."

"Rose, he'll try to hurt you both," my heart skipped a beat. What did she know, _how_ was she able to know things like she did, she was only human. "Don't give up Rose, never give up."

"What do you mean Alice?" I asked, she turned to Christian and smiled.

"The fields of blood red and white castles will shine the way." I looked at Christian who looked as confused as I was. "Burn it all..." she whispered.

"Burn what Alice?" he asked her.

"That's where they'll be. Follow the grey...... it points the way." I shrugged and said goodbye to her as I went over to Lissa and her feeder as Christian bent down to Alice's neck.

"What was all that about?" she asked me.

"I have no idea. I don't know what to think of her ramblings, sometimes she says things that seem to mean a lot, then other times....." I shook my head. "Go ahead; you need to feed before we land." I told her. She then turned to the young girl who was looking out the window; Dimitri came up behind me then and wrapped his arms around my body. He was so warm and he smelt so good, I couldn't wait to get to the resort so that I could have my way with him. I rested my head against his chest as she started to feed. A small drop of blood trickled down the girl's neck and the smell of it made my mouth water..... _What the hell...? _I thought to myself. I just stared at the blood and then I realised that I was moving towards the girl.

"Rose, where are you going?" Dimitri asked. "Rose...?" I swallowed as I snapped out of my 'almost' trance.

I turned to him and asked, "Can you smell that?" He looked confused. "That girl, her blood." I closed my eyes and breathed deep, oh man.... I couldn't describe the smell but it was mouth watering.

"What do you mean her blood?" He was looking at me like I was some sort of alien. I was so confused, why was it affecting me like this? I pulled him away from the feeders and back to our seats.

"Her blood smells so......I don't know.....what's going on Dimitri? I could smell her blood and it smelt _really_ good. What in the hell is going on?" I was starting to get a little worried, as worried as Dimitri looked.

"I don't know, we'll get the Doctor to have a look at you when we get to the resort. Maybe it has something to do with the pregnancy." I nodded to him as I thought about the possibilities. Just then Christian and Lissa came back and the pilot told us to buckle up for landing.

Lissa sat on the other side of the isle to me so I turned to her and asked her "Liss, can I ask you something weird?"

"Yeah...."

"Can you tell me what that girl's blood smells like to you?" She was a little shocked at that question; she obviously wasn't expecting me to ask something like that.

"Well, I suppose it smells sweet," then her eyebrows raised as she'd thought of something, "Sort of like that cookie dough we used to make up when we were away..." _Shit....what did that mean? That was exactly what it smelt like to me too.... _I thought.... "Anyway, why would you ask that?"

I turned to look at Dimitri. "That's exactly what it smelt like to me too... What's going on?" He shook his head but I could see he was trying to find something to say to make me feel better. Just then the plane banked to the left and we descended. I glanced out the window to see Paris in the distance, but we were going to a resort south-west of the city that my father had managed to acquire for the week, apparently the owner had a debt to pay him so we had the whole place to ourselves. We were landing at Tours-Val-De-Loire Airport where a car would meet us to take us to Le Domaine De Beauvois. I couldn't wait to get there so I could think things through.

The plane landed and there was a stretched limo waiting for us. So many things were going through my head that I couldn't even enjoy the fabulous car that we were now in. "We'll find answers Rose." Said Lissa. She'd asked me privately what had happened on the plane so I'd told her; she was as confused as we were. It was dark now as we drove to the castle resort and we were going through a heavily treed area, it would probably be beautiful in the daylight. Just then I saw Eddie outside of my window and in an instant, all hell broke loose....the nausea hit me first....bad.... Then the driver of our car hit the brakes and swerved sharply causing the car to veer off to the left, then it hit the bank and started to flip, no-one in the back was strapped in, so we were thrown around like ragdolls. I'm not sure really what happened next, I hurt everywhere, and I felt so sick, my ears were ringing but I could hear fighting, screeching, screaming.... then I was vaguely aware of being dragged.... then it was black.


	2. Truth Be Known

**Well, here's the next chapter... I'm posting this a little early as I have an early start tomorrow morning and I may not be able to update!! Oh! But I will update as I did last time....Every morning at the same time... (Here in Australia)... **

**Disclaimer.... Ms Mead owns nearly all characters other than the ones I've made up!! Thanks for your reviews guys... You all make me smile!**

**Chapter Two.**

**Truth Be Known.**

Dimitri's Point Of View.

I looked out of the car window even though it was fairly dark. Even with my eyes I could only just make out that we were in a heavily treed area. I didn't know what to make of what happened on the plane with Rose and the blood. How could she smell it? And even if that could be explained easily, why did it smell like _that_ to her? Blood had a rusty, metallic smell, not sweet and certainly not like cookie dough. Everything about this pregnancy was out of the ordinary. Just then Rose moaned and closed her eyes, she leant forward and I only had enough time to realise that she was feeling sick when my whole world turned upside down.... The car was screeching to a halt, and then it veered off to the side of the road.... I saw a flash of something on my right hand side out of the windows. A person? Then the car hit the embankment and started to roll. I tried to hold onto Rose but none of us had seatbelts on and we were thrown forward in the car. I've never been in a washing machine, but I would think that it was something like what happened next.

There was crunching and smashing of glass.... the girls were screaming. I felt stinging in my arm and then my head hit against the inside of the car somewhere. The car finally stopped but I was so dazed.... I tried to open my eyes, but all I could see were stars before me, I tried to get up, but I kept falling back to the ground, I could tell that the car was upside down and we were all now on the roof...my head was pounding and I could feel something running down my arm, I wiped my hand on it and I knew instantly it was blood, I could smell it. Suddenly my vision started to clear a bit and I found Christian lying in front of me, he was moaning but starting to come around. Next I found Pavel; he was in pretty much the same condition as me. Then just ahead of me, I heard a windows smashing. I looked up to see Rose and Lissa being pulled out of the broken door windows. I crawled as fast as I could while yelling at Rose, she was totally unconscious, so I yelled at Pavel to help. I grabbed onto an arm each of Rose and Lissa and waited for Pavel to get here, but whoever had them was way too strong. They were pulled out of my grip.

"PAVEL! HELP.... Go through the window... quick, they're being taken." Pavel dove through the open window that Lissa had been dragged through and I went through the other one. I looked up to see Strigoi, lots of them. They hadn't taken them away yet so it didn't take long for Pavel and me to be on them. Something snapped in me, everyone seemed to be getting slower, I could see the shoulder movements of the strigoi before their arms moved so I was ready for them, I blocked each punch, each strike or kick... Even though I was 'officially' on vacation and not guarding, I still had my stake. I never went anywhere without it, after what happened to Ivan Zeklos, my first charge, I vowed never to be unprepared again. I grabbed the stake from its holder and thrust it into the strigoi's heart.

I could see there were a lot of Strigoi and the ones who had the girls were off and running, everything in me wanted to run after them but the other strigoi were keeping us occupied. I then saw one pulling Christian out of the car, so I ran over and jumped onto him and staked him through his back. Christian was now awake and he came out of the car with flames in his hands. He looked to where the strigoi had taken Rose and Lissa, but they were too far away for either one of us to catch them, I could only just make out their bodies in the darkness. The look in his eyes was murderous and for the first time in my life, I was actually scared of the power of a Moroi. I've seen Christian in action before, but it was nothing like this. Fire flew from his hands with such force I had to fall backwards or get burnt. Within seconds all the remaining strigoi burst into flames, there were about ten or fifteen. He went to run off after the girls but I had to pull him back.

"No Christian. We can't..."

"WHAT _ARE_ YOU TALKING ABOUT?" He yelled. "You expect me to just stand here while they take off with my wife, with Rose? You're just going to let them go? I never expected _you_ to be the coward Dimitri." I winced at that, but I knew there was no way we would ever catch them. We couldn't even follow them, we had no way to.

"How do you _expect_ to follow them Christian? Tell me how..... _Tell_ me and I will gladly lead the way. Do you know where they're heading? Because I don't, they could be anywhere by now and you know it. We have to get help, help from those who know this area, those who may know _exactly_ where they're heading." He stared at me with his forehead knotted up and then turned to face the woods were the loves of our lives had been taken.

"I can't lose them Dimitri." He said with so much pain. "I'll die if anything happens to them."

"I know Christian, I know." Just then Pavel came up behind me.

"Belikov, the other car will be here in a minute and I've got in touch with Abe and the French Moroi council. They're sending out a task force of Guardians and they'll meet us at the resort. Abe said he's on his way with Guardian Hathaway."

I nodded to him but looked back to where they'd taken Rose. I didn't know if I was strong enough to leave, everything in me wanted to run after her, maybe I'd get lucky and be able to pick up a trail.

"Belikov! We have to go. There's nothing we can do here." I turned to face him and saw that the other car had already arrived and Christian was just getting in so I walked over and went to get in beside him but before I left I looked back and made a silent promise. _I'll find you Rose, no matter what I will never stop. _

We got to the resort and as I walked into the foyer I felt a stab to my chest, Rose would have absolutely loved it here. Just then my cell phone rang, so I answered it as we walked into a large conference room.

"Hello?"

"Dimka? It's Oksana. Abe just told me what happened. Mark and I are coming with him and Janine, also some other guardians from the academy, Adrian & Viktoria too. Is it alright for Viktoria to come, she's rather insistent."

"Yeah, its fine with me but you might want to ask my mother. Oksana, can you go to Rose, can you see where she is?"

"Yeah, hang on," she said and then it was quiet. I knew I had to wait for her to come back, but the silence from her was killing me. "She's still alive but she's in pain, it's her shoulder again. She's in a large room, stone walls, no windows." My heart fell, there was no way for her to see where she was, and no way we could get a position. "It's cold.....really cold. There's stairs leading upwards, so she's maybe in a basement. She's chained to a wall......" not good... if Rose was chained to a wall then she wouldn't be able to get away very easily. Then Oksana started to whisper like she was Rose....... "_Lissa? Lissa are you alright? Wake up Liss, Liss.... Lissa! _She's scared that something's wrong with the princess. Hang on, someone's coming." My heart skipped a beat waiting to see what was going to happen. "She's faking being out to it still. She has her eyes shut, I can't see if it's someone that I know." Then there was silence.

"What is it Oksana?" but she said nothing. "Oksana, tell me what's wrong."

"He's telling her that he knows she's awake. She's looking up......No!" she whispered.

"What? Oksana... what?"

"Viktor! He's still alive, he didn't die, and he's got them." She said. Chills went down my spine......Viktor? How in the hell did he get out of that house?

"If you find out anything else Oksana, please ring me back. The others have arrived and I need to talk to them." She said she would so I hung up to talk to the people who'd just come in.

"Guardian Belikov?" I nodded to him; he was not what I expected. He wasn't overly large, maybe 5' 10" tall and was in his late 30's if not early 40's. But I could tell he was a tough man. "My name is Pierre Montague." I was shaking his hand as Christian came around the corner.

"Do you know where they might have taken them?" Christian asked.

"There are a few places that we know of Lord Ozera that Strigoi frequent, but we need to get enough guardians together so that we can check them all out. They have a habit of knowing when we raid and then alerting other covens. Please know that we are doing everything that we can to get Queen consort Vasilisa back." I couldn't believe he didn't mention Rose.....

"She's not alone Guardian Montague, you know that don't you? She has her bond mate with her." He looked at me confused. "Guardian Rose Hathaway is her bond mate and they were both taken."

"Then she is most likely already killed or turned if she is Dhampir." He said matter-of-factly.

"No, she's not." I said. Those within earshot turned to look at me. "Do you know of Moroi who have bonded with others?"

"Yes, I have heard of this, but it happened a long time ago."

"No, it happens more than most think. Rose is bonded to Lissa, sorry Vasilisa. They are both pregnant as well." He was very shocked to hear this. "We have another two spirit users coming as well, one also has a bond mate."

"Spirit users?"

"It's too hard to explain right now, just know that we don't have a lot of time and I _know_ that Rose and Lissa are both alive, for now. So we need to get the rescue plan up and running soon." He looked between me and Christian as if to ask who was actually in charge.

"Didn't you hear him Guardian? Guardian Belikov is in charge here, you'll need to co-ordinate with him and then when the others get here you'll have more than enough people to help." We had to wait for the sun to rise anyway, so we got to planning.

* * * * *

Rose's Point Of View

I started to become aware, my head felt like it was going to explode..... My arms ached and I could feel they were above me. My shoulders ached too, my right one especially and I was cold, so cold my body shivered. I opened my eyes and saw that I was in a stone room with no windows...._damn_... the ceilings had beams of wood crossing over it and there was a staircase leading up to another floor. It was so cold down here and it smelt damp. I looked over to my right and saw Lissa on a makeshift bed, she didn't look too hurt other than some scratches and bruises that were just starting to come out.

"Lissa? Lissa are you alright?" I whispered, "Wake up Liss, Liss_.... Lissa_!" I stared at her but she wasn't moving.... I really started to panic now, I watched closely to see if she was breathing and she was. I looked to see if she was bleeding further down, if anything had happened to the twins, there'd be a lot of blood, but there wasn't so I was hopeful. Just then I heard the door above the staircase open so I slumped down off my feet and dangled by my chained arms..... _Shit,_ my shoulder hurt! Hopefully whoever it was would think I was still out to it and come close enough that I could get hold of him. I could feel my heart beat faster and my nauseas increase as my captor came closer. I was dealing with strigoi.....again! Whoever it was walked very quietly as I couldn't tell how far away from me they were.

"Rosemarie," That voice.... I knew that voice. _Oh God!!! Viktor_..... "I know you're awake. Unconscious people's heart rates don't accelerate when they are approached." I swallowed as I opened my eyes and stood up to face the bane of my existence. To see him standing there in front of me filled me with so much fury I didn't know if I was going to be able to contain it. How in the hell did he survive? "What? Not happy to see me? Well that's disappointing, I'm _very_ happy to see _you_. Especially considering you brought my lovely niece with you."

"Come a little closer you _prick_ and I'll show you just how happy I am to see you."

The evil laugh that came from him would normally have sent chills down my spine, but I was so angry at the moment it just served to fuel my murderous intent. "Oh Rosemarie. I've so missed your wicked tongue. You know.......I may have to keep you around a little longer just so I can have my...._fill_....of you, wit and all. You're probably wondering how I'm still here... Well, your mother certainly pushed her stake in far enough; it just missed its mark. You Hathaway's have a habit of doing that, don't you? Missing the heart......maybe you should both do some retraining with the stake."

"Give me one and I'll start my lessons with you." He smiled, then he started to walk closer to me and I was about to lift my legs to pull him down when I noticed that they were also chained to the wall. He came to me and put his face right at my neck and took a deep breath.

"What's different about you Rose, you smell different. Ah!.........You're carrying another life..... Well then, who's been a naughty girl? I thought you were madly in love with Belikov? I take it you've changed your mind and decided on Ivashkov instead."

"What if I said yes?"

"Well then, not only do I get you, but I get my lovely niece and a couple of children too. But I don't know if I'll just wait till the babies are born to turn her or if I'll just....._cut_ it out now....."

"_YOU BASTARD! LEAVE HER ALONE!" _I screamed at him. Obviously it was loud enough to stir her as she started to moan. "Leave her alone Viktor or so help me God you'll pray you were never born...."

"And which birth would you be talking about Rose, the first one or the second?" The smirk on his face was making me madder and madder, but stuck here; there was nothing I could do about it. I just stared at him as I spoke to Lissa through the bond; hopefully she was conscious enough to hear me.

_Lissa, can you hear me? Don't move, we were taken by Strigoi after the car accident and there's one here with us at the moment but he's not interested in you yet, so don't move. I need you to stay still and I'll let you know when he leaves. Lissa, don't be scared but the strigoi is Viktor.... Please, don't move... can you hear me?_

_Viktor has us? Oh God Rose......I thought he was dead? _

_Yeah well, it seems that he's proving to be a little hard to kill. But at the first opportunity, I will rectify that._

"Not so talkative now Rosemarie?" he snarled. "So, you never said why you chose Ivashkov, was it his money and stature?"

"Who said Adrian is the father?" He raised his eyebrows in surprise and then cocked his head to the side and his red ringed eyes lowered over my body....

"Well, that _is_ weird." Then he looked into my eyes again with confusion. "Why are you carrying someone else's baby?" I had no idea what he meant by that but it just got me angrier.

"I'm not! This is _my_ baby." His eyes narrowed as he looked back down to my stomach.

"I don't think so Rosemarie. Not unless you've suddenly changed into a Moroi." What was he going on about?

"What? You're even crazier now than when you were alive."

"Rosemarie, this child you're carrying, it's not Dhampir......its Moroi." Now was my turn to be utterly speechless.


	3. Solidarity

**Chapter Three.**

**Solidarity**

"What are you talking about? This _is_ my child. It's Dhampir like me and its fa....." Crap! I didn't want to say that. But I'd said enough for Viktor to pick up on what I was about to say.

"It's....father?" Then that evil smirk was back. "So, Adrian didn't get the honours after all." He continued to study me while he thought. "Two Dhampirs can't have children, everyone knows that. Hmm.....but then again, you and your lover aren't exactly the normal, everyday Dhampir's, are you? One shadow-kissed, the other returned from.....where exactly _did_ he return from Rosemarie? So, either one or both of you made it possible for this little one to be. Congratulations Rosemarie."

"I don't _want_ your congratulations Viktor, I want your _head_!" I put as much venom in that last word as I could get. He just laughed.

"Oh, it wasn't for the little one here Rose, my congratulations was for the fact that this pregnancy has just bought you a little more time, I want to study you a little more.....in-depth! And when this child is born, I will study _it_ too." Then he started to walk away towards the stairs but before he went he turned to Lissa. "You know niece, your little one will make an excellent addition to our little family here." Then he laughed to himself as he walked back up the stairs. As the door closed, I shut my eyes and lowered my head; at least he didn't know Liss was carrying twins. I didn't know how I was going to get us out of this one, I couldn't let anything happen to Lissa, but I didn't know how I was going to stop it either.

"Rose?" She sounded scared and I wanted to calm her but I didn't know how I was going to do it. "We'll get out of this together, do you hear me?" I looked over to her and wondered how. _We have to think of everything we have and how we're going to use it to our advantage. _She said through the bond. _The others will be doing everything they can to find us as well so we have to keep ourselves alive till then or if we can make our escape beforehand then that's what we'll do......deal? _She tried to sound optimistic so I smiled back at her; _I_ was normally the one giving the pep talk.

_Deal Liss. _I said. Then I thought of something....._Lissa, I've never actually asked you this before, but how strong are you in the other elements now? I know that you're a lot stronger in spirit, so maybe you're stronger in the others too._

_I don't know, I haven't tried using the other elements in a long time, why?_

_Try air; see if you can take the air from around me. _She closed her eyes and within seconds I was fighting to breathe. We were both stunned at first, before she found that she was a spirit user, she'd tried using the other elements but she never had a lot of control over any of them, certainly not this much. _Excellent Liss, what about fire, can you use that? _She held up one of her chained hands and concentrated, fire instantly formed in her palm, not as impressive as Christian, but at the moment, I'd take anything! Her face beamed.....

_This is exactly what we need Rose; we have weapons now, weapons they're not expecting us to have. _ She was right. We had to play our hand when we had the best advantage of escape.

_We need to keep this secret though Liss, we can't let them know what we're capable of until we can use it to our advantage._ _They can't know that you can use those elements, not yet. _ She nodded. _Are you alright, the babies?_

_Yeah, I think so. I've got a few cuts and stuff, but they're healing up fast. What about you?_

_I think I've done my shoulder again, it's sore, but with my arms up like this, they're numb at the moment, so I probably won't be able to use them much if they ever let me down. _Just then a thought came to me..... _Liss, try the earth element, do what Natalie did to the bench. See if you can weaken the chains around you wrist near the wall. _She looked over to her other hand which was hidden from my view and then within seconds she turned back to me with a beaming smile and a raised hand. I couldn't help but smile.....this definitely increased our chances of getting out of here.

_Hide your hand; make out it's still bound. We need to find out what time it is, we need to make sure that when we make a break for it, they won't be able to follow. This could work Liss. _I could feel her mood change from sullen to hopeful, but we both knew how hard it was going to be to get out of here unscathed. _We need to talk; otherwise they're going to wonder why we're so quiet._

"Rose? How are we going to get out of this?" she said. I smiled and nodded. We had to play the role of terrified teens while biding our time to escape....

"I don't know Liss, but I'm not giving up so neither should you, alright?" Just then I felt a strange feeling in my head.... Oksana!! _YES!_ _Liss, Oksana is here... I can feel her. _I'd hoped that she could hear me and understand the message I was about to send her. "I wonder what the others are doing. I really hope that Oksana isn't too worried. I know she'd want to help any way she could and I'd hate to see her put herself in danger. Especially knowing that Viktor is the one holding us. If only there was a way to tell her that we could feel her with us.... I know that she'd be sending us all of her positive thoughts.... But if Viktor really doesn't have any immediate plans on turning us then we may find a way out of here."

_Show her that you're able to use fire Liss, quickly before she goes...._

Liss held up the hand that she'd got free and closed her eyes before fire burst from _both_ upturned palms. "We have no real weapons though Rose." She said. "And with both of us chained, I really don't know how we are going to be able to do it...."

I made an effort to exaggerate my nodding of my head. Then I felt the fluttering of her touch leave my head. She was gone. I really hoped that we'd said enough for her to understand that we knew she was there, and that Lissa was able to use some of the other elements. I was starving, but after what happened on the plane, I wasn't sure what I was hungry for. Then it hit me......what happened on the plane......that's why I had such a reaction to the blood. Could it really be true? Was my baby really a Moroi, was that why I wanted the blood?

* * * * *

Dimitri's Point of View

A nurse had come to stitch me up as the glass from the car had cut me deeply on the arms and torso. Christian had better healing than me, so they bandaged his wounds. Then as we were going over the known strigoi hideouts once more and organising personnel assignments my phone rang. It was Oksana; hopefully she had some good news.

"Oksana? Anything new?"

"Yes. They're both awake. Dimitri, they knew I was with them, they were trying to let me know without saying too much, but there's something else...... It's Lissa; she can use the fire element." My mind buzzed with what this could mean; how it could help. If she could use fire, then odds were that she could use the other elements too. "Hang on for a minute Oksana." I called Christian over to see if he knew about this.

"No... I haven't seen her use any of the other elements at all. I don't know if _she_ even knew that she could. If she can use the other elements, then they may be able to get away. Dimitri, we need to find them... fast. If they manage to escape, they only have so long before the Strigoi can follow them, and they can track by scent and with their speed, they'll catch them before they can get far enough away."

"Oksana, did you hear that?" she said yes. Then I thought about something.... I didn't know if it could be done, but we had to try. "Oksana, Adrian's with you isn't he?"

"Yes, do you want to speak to him?"

"No, you'll need to know what I want done anyway..... When Rose was in Russia and you helped her defeat Avery, you were able to compel through the link, weren't you?"

"Yes I was. Who do you want me to compel?"

"Rose. Make her go to sleep so that Adrian can go into her dream. From there they can talk."

"That's a great idea."

"But tell him to only stay long enough to tell her what's happening here and then she can go back and let Lissa know she's okay, because she'll freak thinking something's wrong with Rose when she falls asleep so suddenly. Then make her sleep again. Ring me if you get it done." We hung up and my hopes soared that we might be able to communicate with them.

"Why didn't I think of that?" Christian asked.

"Because I'm the one with all the brains." His mouth dropped open and then he started to laugh.... He was obviously feeling as optimistic as I was.

"You just made a joke Belikov."

"Yeah, it's been known to happen from time to time. Christian, how strong do you think Lissa is in the other elements?"

"I don't know, the last time I saw her try fire, it was pretty pitiful. But she's a lot stronger in spirit now than then, so if she's stronger in those elements too, then she's maybe strong enough to wield them as a weapon. But we've never done any training with it so I doubt she'd be very accurate. I wonder if they were able to get through to Rose."

I was wondering the same thing. "Well, we'll know soon enough." Montague had heard enough of my conversation with Oksana to want to know more, so while we waited for Oksana's call, Christian and I explained spirit to him. Once he knew more about it, he said that he knew of someone who had graduated last year and was still to specialise. Her name was Yelena Zahkov. "Do you know how to get into contact with her?" I asked.

"Yes, I do actually. Do you want her here?" he asked. If she didn't know what her abilities were, I didn't know how much use she could be, but then if she knew there were others like her she may be willing to talk more about what she _could_ do. "That would be good, thank you." He turned and spoke to one of the other men who then walked out of the room. Just then my cell phone rang again.

"Oksana, did it work?"

"Yes it did. She told Adrian that for now they're both doing well. Viktor has ideas about keeping the babies so they're thinking that turning them isn't on the cards for a while. Lissa is able to use fire, earth and air elements; they don't have any water available so they don't know about that one."

"So she's alright?" I was almost scared to ask. "The baby's alright?"

"Yes, everything is alright I think; she's just sore and a bit cold. Dimitri, there's something else." I suddenly had a flash of panic go through me; I didn't like how she said that. "Viktor said something to her about the baby. He knew she was pregnant and said that it was Moroi." I was momentarily stunned....

"Did you say....Moroi? How could it be Moroi? Dhampirs can only have Dhampir children."

"I know, but he said that it wasn't Dhampir." Then things started to add up, the baby was the right size for a 'Moroi' six month pregnancy and then there was the blood incident on the plane. Her heightened sense of smell.... Could it really have to do with the pregnancy?

"Where are you now Oksana?"

"We're in the air Dimitri, Abe was able to get a jet to pick us up at the Academy and took us to JFK airport; we took off nearly three hours ago, so we'll be in Paris in less than an hour."

"What do you mean? It's more than seven hours to Paris from New York."

"Yes well, you'll never guess what Abe owns.....he owns a Concorde, which we are now on. So we'll be there soon." I couldn't believe it. I knew Abe was rich, but he owns his own Concorde! It really shouldn't surprise me really, but I was glad that they'd be here soon.

"Thank you Oksana. Did Rose say anything else?"

"They're going to try to make an escape if they can. She's made a schedule with Adrian and me to make contact. I will touch her mind to see if it's safe to make her sleep. We don't want it to happen if Viktor's with her. Then if it is, I'll make her sleep and Adrian will contact her. We'll do this every six hours." I looked at my watch and saw that it was now 4pm. I'd now been awake for nearly 48 hours and I was starting to feel it. "She told us to tell you that she loves you and to "quote - get your ass into gear and find her." She made us promise to tell you that."

I couldn't help but laugh. Now I knew that she was okay, as long as she was giving us sass, I knew she was good. "Thank you, for everything. I think I need to get a few hours of sleep in. Ring me when you've spoken to her again and tell her.....tell her not to do anything stupid, otherwise I may have to kick her ass." Oksana giggled and promised she would let her know.


	4. Burnt Offerings

**Okay, here's the next chapter, so I hope you all enjoy it. Didn't everyone like the last chapter??? Come on everyone.... I love your reviews, keep sending them in...... :-D**

**Chapter Four**

**Burnt Offerings.**

Rose's Point Of View

_Do you think she understood Rose?_

_I hope so.... I guess if she comes back soon, we'll know._

It had been about twenty minutes since I felt Oksana and neither one of us wanted to think about what might happen if our message to her didn't work, if it did, the this could be one way that we could get information to and fro. Just then I felt the familiar tickle.... _Oksana...._ I said to myself. It wasn't long and I felt myself struggling to stay awake, it felt like I'd been drugged and then I couldn't hold on anymore and I was asleep. Next thing I knew I was in Adrian's grandmother's garden. _"Adrian!" _I yelled... I was so excited to see him again but I didn't know where to look; I just spun around in circles looking for him. Then my eyes landed on his beautiful face, I ran to him and jumped into his arms. "Oh God....you're here......you're here!"

"Always little Dhampir, I'll always be with you." He had tears in his eyes and then he wiped the ones that fell from my eyes with his thumb. "You know, your penchant for getting abducted by strigoi is getting a little tiresome Rose." He said with a smile. "I think I may have to stop you from leaving the Academy for the rest of your life, it seems to be the only place you don't get yourself in trouble."

Any other time and that little comment would have earned him a slap, but I was so happy to see him all I could do was smile at him.

"Rose, I'm going to let you go back to Liss so that you can tell her what's happening, then Oksana is going to make you sleep again and then I'll tell you what's going on, okay!"

"Okay, don't be long." I was still in his arms so I bent forward and kissed his cheek. Then I was back with Lissa, who _was_ starting to freak.

_Rose! What in the hell just happened to you? I thought you died on me...._

_Now would I do that Liss...? Oksana made me sleep so that Adrian could talk to me. I'll be going back in a second, so don't worry. If he comes back, tell him I've passed out from lack of food.... it's not far from the truth you know... _I was absolutely starving right now. I was going to have to eat soon..... Then everything went black again.

"Hello again beautiful." I smiled. He walked over to me and touched my face as he grimaced.

"What's wrong?"

"You're a little beat up Rose."

"Oh, don't worry about that. What's going on?"

"Well, I'm currently on your fathers Concorde, just under an hour from landing in France."

"My father owns a Concorde?" That really shouldn't surprise me, but it did.

"Yeah, he has quite a few surprises doesn't he? Anyway, I'm here with your parents, Robert, Oksana & Mark, Alberta, Stan, Celeste, Yuri, Jean and this new Guardian named Tyler Mitchell. He's about my height but built like a tank." We both grinned at his description of this new Dhampir. "Dimitri & Christian are fine; they're busy trying to find you. Do you know where you are?"

"No, I passed out as they were dragging me from the car and then I woke up here. There are no windows so I can't see out."

"Yeah, we know. We also know that it's Viktor who has you. We just don't know how he knew where to find you. Or even how he survived the house inferno."

"Well to answer the second part, apparently Mom missed his heart. He took great pleasure in pointing out the fact that we 'Hathaway's' have a habit of doing that.... That pissed me off somewhat." I said narrowing my eyes.

"I'm sure it did." He giggled. "I may have to let your mother know this little bit of information." I could see the deviousness in his eyes.... he was going to enjoy telling her this.

"He said that he wants the babies. He doesn't know Lissa's carrying twins, but it won't be long before he finds out. I guess he heard this one's heart beat." I touched my hand to my stomach as I said that. "Adrian.....he said something about my baby, something I don't know what to make of..."

"What?"

"He said that my baby is.....Moroi." He was as surprised as I was. But he shook his head.

"That's not possible Rose. Only Moroi can have Moroi children. Dhampir can only have Dhampir children. What would make him say that?"

"He didn't say it to confuse me, he wanted to know why I was carrying someone else's baby, but when I let it slip that Dimitri was the father, he said that it must have been something caused by either me being shadow-kissed or from Dimitri.....and what happened to him, but he was adamant that this baby was _not_ Dhampir. But there's something else. On the flight to France, Lissa went to the feeder that was on board and when she drank, a little blood fell onto the girl's neck. I could smell it Adrian. It smelt sweet.....and you're going to think me weird, but it smelt like cookie dough. It smelt _really_ good.... Why would it smell _good_ to me, I actually wondered what it would taste like."

"I don't know what to say...... I can ask Oksana what she thinks if you'd like." I nodded.

"Also, Lissa is able to use the other elements. She can conjure fire in both hands, she was able to take the air away from around me and she was able to dissolve one of the handcuffs on her arms. We don't have any water, so we don't know about that one, but she can use the other elements, we have weapons..... If we get the opportunity to escape, at least we may have a fighting chance. What time is it?" I asked him.

"Ah, it's just before 4pm.....she can use the other elements? Wow....she's getting strong. Rose, you need to get back in case Viktor comes back. We'll check in every six hours. Oksana will come first to see if he's with you, if not, she'll make you sleep and I'll see you again. Are you alright Rose?" he asked concerned.

"Yeah, I'm just starving and cold. My shoulder hurts and I'm chained to a wall, but other than that...I'm good. Adrian?" I contemplated asking him to do this, but I needed him to give Dimitri a message. "Will you tell Dimitri that I love him," he nodded, "and also, while you're at it, can you tell him to get his ass into gear and find us. Promise me..."

He just laughed. "Now I know you're feeling alright. But yes, I promise to give him the message." Then he cupped my face in his hands and bent down and kissed me on the forehead. "I won't leave you Rose, I _will_ be back." He just stood there looking into my eyes like he was deciding something. Then he bent down again and softly kissed my lips. "One last kiss. The next one will be when I hold you again, for real okay?"

"Okay. Tell my parents not to worry too much." Then we both laughed.... neither one of us could imagine my mother worrying...

"See you later little Dhampir." He pulled me into a hug as everything started to fade. I opened my eyes to find myself being dragged by one arm towards the stairs by a strigoi. Lissa was screaming at Viktor to leave me alone and for me to wake up... Then something clicked in my mind and I went into fight mode. I didn't know how many strigoi were here, but I'd give it a go. I spun my body around so that I was now on my stomach and that was enough to make the strigoi stop pulling me, then I pulled my feet up underneath myself and launched into an attack. I roundhouse kicked him in the side of the head and he fell to one side. I backed it up with a series of punches that threw him backwards into a table that broke underneath him. In one quick movement, I grabbed one of the table legs that was now broken off and smashed it over his head; it broke in half so I plunged it into his chest.

That would give me a few minutes so I spun around to see who else was there only to find Viktor kneeling on the bed behind Lissa with her head to one side exposing her neck. "Don't even _think_ about it Rose." He growled. "Pull it out and go back to your wall." I looked down to the strigoi on the floor and back to Viktor. If there were anymore Strigoi in the house above us, he would only have to call out. So I decided to walk back to the wall where I'd been chained, leaving the strigoi where he laid. I wanted to see what Viktor would do next. "Rose...."

"Do it yourself." I spat at him. He glared at me and shook his head.

"There are consequences for playing with _us_ Rose." Then like lightening, be bit into Lissa's neck. She screamed out and I flew at him. The rage in me was boiling.... I hit him with such force that we both smashed into the wall behind him. I punched into him like lightening, my fists pounding into his face and from behind me I could hear the most terrifying screeching and I could smell burning. Next thing I knew Viktor hit me on the side of my head and I went flying off to the side of the room crashing into a post, but before he could get to me, Lissa had him under compulsion, the look on her face was terrifying; like nothing I'd ever seen on her before. She made his hands come up to his face and start to tear at his own skin, and then before I knew it, he started gouging out his own eyes.....

"_LISSA!_" I yelled. "Lissa stop it.... _don't_..." But she was intent on having him pay for what he'd done to her. She slowly raised her hands and fire formed in her open palms, and then she sent small bursts of flames to his body so that he would slowly burn. "_Lissa!_ That's enough!" I yelled again, "kill him now or _I will_." She looked to me and I could see the pain of his betrayal that had eaten at her since he abducted her, her eyes no longer contained the tears as she conjured more flames and then set him on fire. His scream was blood curdling and he fell to the ground thrashing. Lissa's torture was bad, but now as I lay on the floor, I watched with some satisfaction at seeing him burn. I looked back to Lissa and saw the blackness still in her eyes, so I went to get up so I could take it from her but as I did so, pain shot through my stomach.

"AAHHH!" I screamed. I wrapped my arms around my stomach; the pain was terrible, like I was being stabbed by some invisible assailant. "LISSA! Help me!" I yelled to her. There must have been something in my voice that broke her trance and she turned to see me.

"_Rose!_" She ran to me placing her hand on my stomach. She closed her eyes in concentration and with a few seconds the pain subsided.

"Is the baby alright?" I asked in a panic.

"I think so. I didn't feel that it wasn't. Rose, we need to get out of here. If anything happens, I can't save the baby." I knew she was right, but the thought of losing my baby even though it was still all so new, was almost unbearable. What if this was a onetime deal? This could be my one and only chance to give Dimitri a child, I couldn't lose this baby. I could see she was exhausted and I could feel the effects of how much spirit she'd used. So together we healed each other as best we could.

"Help me up Liss." I asked. Gently I stood up and I didn't feel any pain so I walked over to the stairs with Lissa behind me. "I still feel sick so there must be more upstairs, either that or it's the pregnancy. Viktor didn't call out for help before, but that could have just been his ego."

"If there were some more up there, wouldn't they have heard the screaming?" I looked back at the charred remains of Viktor and the other strigoi and then back to Lissa.

"Who knows, they might have wanted us to kill them so they could have us for themselves. Especially if Viktor wanted to keep us around till the babies were born."

_Be careful then Rose. Do you think we should wait till Adrian makes contact again before trying to get out? If it was only 4pm before, it must nearly be sundown._

_Yeah, I thought of that. _I stood looking up to the door at the top of the stairs wondering if we should try anything. If it had only been me to worry about I would have gone without a second thought, but I had Liss and her babies to worry about and now I had my little one to worry about too. I looked around the basement to see if there was anything I could use as a weapon as well as anything I could use to barricade the door. If there were any more upstairs or if more came during the night, then we had to prepare.

"Alright Liss, help me to find something as a weapon and something to barricade the door." We were going to wait it out and try to make a run for it once the sun came up. "Liss, have a look to see if there is anything here to write a sign to Oksana. I can't let them make me sleep in the middle of the night." She nodded and then I hunted around for weapons. I broke some more of the table up, I found some steel rods, but they were too long to be useful. Then I opened up a metal chest that was in the corner of the room and I looked in and saw tools.....lots of tools. "Cool!" I said under my breath. I also found a bolt used to lock doors so I set about attaching it to the door and the frame.

"Rose?" Lissa asked, "What did Viktor mean when he said 'you shouldn't play with _us_", I wonder who 'us' is...." I shrugged my shoulders not thinking too much of it.


	5. Wheels Set In Motion

**Well, now.... next instalment! I hope you enjoy it... It's getting good now guys, very interesting..... hehehe don't forget to review....you all know how much I love your emails. **

**Chapter Five**

**Wheels Set In Motion**

Dimitri's Point of View.

"Dimka." I heard the familiar voice of my baby sister and for a minute I forgot where I was and what was happening, I was back in my home in Baia, with Viktoria waking me up.....again! "Dimka, wake up, something's happened with Rose." Instantly I was back. I looked up into the eyes that mirrored my own and got out of the bed.

"What's happened Viktoria?"

"Oksana made contact with Rose, Dimitri, they killed Viktor." My mind swam with what that could mean. I rushed passed my sister and into the room where everyone was. I'd greeted everyone when they got here, but then came to get some sleep. All the guardians from home and from here were all crowded around Oksana.

"Dimitri!" Oksana said as I approached her. "I went to Rose and they'd written a message to say that they'd killed Viktor. Rose turned to show me the burnt bodies of two strigoi, so there must have been another there and Viktor or not, he's _not_ coming back from _that_! There are other strigoi in the house, Rose is still feeling sick, but they've barricaded the door to the basement and they're hoping that they won't have to fight." I didn't know if this was good news or not. They were free of Viktor, but he may have been the only one willing to keep them alive for now, the others may not.

"Are Rose and Lissa alright? The babies?"

"I think Lissa and the twins are fine, she looked fine. Rose got a little beat up in the fight with Viktor. She didn't say anything, but when I touched her mind, I saw that she got hurt and Lissa healed her. I think we need to find them.....soon. Lissa won't be able to save the baby if anything happens." My heart fell. Rose needed me and I was standing here doing nothing. "They're going to see if they can get out of the house at sunrise. She asked not to make her sleep because of the ones in the house."

"What! No.... the strigoi can still fight in the house in daylight. If she's already injured...." Just then a hand came onto my shoulder.

"Oksana," said Janine. "Can you go back to Rose with Adrian, just long enough to tell her not to go?" Oksana looked over to Adrian who gave a quick nod.

"It has to be fast Adrian." I said. "If they pick _that_ particular time to break into the basement, they'll all die."

"I know that Dimitri. You're not the only one who wants to find them you know." I knew he still had feelings for Rose and he _was_ helping, but it still got under my skin that he was able to talk to her when I wasn't. All I wanted was to hold her in my arms again. "What do you want me to tell her?"

"Tell her if she can stay where she is, to do so. Don't leave unless there is no other choice. If there is any way she can find a window or information on where they are, that would help, but not if it means that she could get hurt. Tell her that......I'm coming and I won't stop until I find her." He nodded and went over to Oksana.

I watched as she closed her eyes but they weren't closed long before she stared at me in horror. My heart stopped.

"They're fighting." Then she shut her eyes again. I wanted to know what was going on, but Oksana was obviously trying to help. I looked over to Adrian who now had his head in his hands. I felt like I was going to go insane, I don't know what my face looked like but Janine walked over to me.

"Dimitri." She said. "We'll get her back, I know we will. She's strong, very strong thanks to you. You trained her well. If anyone can get through this, it's Rose." I turned to look at her and I could see that she meant every word she'd said.

"I can't lose her Janine." I said and then more forcefully I added, "I _won't_ lose her." Then I turned back to Oksana. She had a slight covering of sweat on her brow and Mark knelt in front of her. I couldn't stay here anymore and I didn't know how long this would take so I walked over to Montague. "Guardian Montague, can you show me where the hideouts are on the map?"

He led me over and showed the few hideouts within the target area. We knew that they couldn't have gone far after they took the girls, so that helped. "What are the surroundings of these places?"

"Well," he said pointing to an area northeast of us. "There are a lot of castles around here, and flower farms. It's one of the biggest areas for Poppy growers." I nodded as I looked at the map. Just then Christian came up behind us.

"What color are the Poppy's?" I looked at him as I thought it an odd question to ask.

"Ah....red actually, it's like a sea of blood." Then it clicked. Christian and I stared at each other.

"Do you think?" I asked him. I couldn't wrap my head around crazy Alice's words. Could she actually be right?

"She's been right before. And this is too much of a coincidence. Montague, what color are the castles in that area?"

"White." I nodded and with renewed hope I went to Janine and Abe.

"Janine, Abe....I think we may have a lead on where they are. It's a bit 'out there', but....."

"What is it?" she asked.

"Well on the plane, Christian and Lissa went to feed before we landed. One of the feeders was Alice. She said something like...."

"She said," said Christian, "the fields of blood red and white castles will shine the way, and to burn it all. That's where they'll be, follow the grey, it points the way." Abe & Janine looked between us, probably wondering if we were for real.

"Come over here, look at the map. Guardian Montague said that around here," I pointed to one of the strigoi hideouts, "are white castles and Poppy farms. _Blood red_ Poppy farms." I could see that Janine didn't know how to tell me I was crazy. I looked over to Oksana who was still in deep thought, "Janine, I know how crazy that sounds, but I need something. It's too coincidental and it's the only thing we have right now. Rose could be in serious trouble and I feel with everything in me, that this is the right place."

"Dimitri....." said Abe. He studied my face and seeing something in my eyes, he asked, "How far away is it?" Montague answered for me.

"Twenty minutes drive, fifteen if _I_ drive." Abe nodded. I looked back to Oksana just as she opened her eyes and I strode over to her. Mark held her tight as she was exhausted.

"Oksana! Are they alright?" I asked a little too harshly. She nodded.

"They're alive, but exhausted. Five strigoi broke into the basement. They work well together, especially with their bond, they can think faster than they can speak so it's like they're one sometimes. Between Lissa and me, we were able to compel some to stop; Lissa had some seeing themselves surrounded in flames." She looked straight at me in admiration. "She's _very_ strong now. Her compulsion is amazing. They've killed the five that came down to them, there are others upstairs still though. I think they're going to wait the girls out. They know they can't fight them, but they're getting hungry and they can see Lissa weakening. We can't risk talking to Rose until sunrise, which should be in a few more hours." I nodded and looked back to Janine.

"I'm going. Are you coming?" I said to her. She nodded but I don't think she was completely convinced that this was the right thing. I turned to Adrian. "If you see her before I get back......" I couldn't think of one particular thing I wanted to say, I had a million things going through my head.

"I'll tell her." He said. Vikki was sitting beside him holding his hand, they'd got close over the last few weeks, and I think he saw the same toughness in her as he saw in Rose. I nodded in acknowledgment and turned to stride out of the castle with the others. It was the longest fifteen minute car ride I've ever taken. At one point I almost asked Montague if he'd gotten lost. Then I saw the poppy fields in the distance. Looking out both sides of the SUV I saw blood red fields stretch for miles and white castles, but they were only on the left side of the road. That's where we'd start. What did Alice say.......burn it all??? Burn what? The poppy fields?

Montague pulled into a side road and then stopped the car. "We walk from here. The house isn't far." There were three car loads of Guardians in our posse, seven French Guardians and ten of ours, twelve if you counted our two Fire wielding Moroi's. We all started getting out of the car and Montague started telling us about the house we were going to and as I looked around I happened to see someone who made my blood boil.....Viktoria! I couldn't believe she'd stowed away in one of the other cars! I strode over to where she was trying to hide behind the others...

"What in the _hell_ are you doing here Viktoria?" I yelled at her. "You're not ready for this. I have enough to worry about without your safety distracting me too. How could you do this?"

"You're not the only one who is worried Dimka. She's my sister," she said with her voice catching. "I can't just sit back and do nothing to help get her back. I _am_ ready for this." I could do nothing about it now anyway, so I grabbed her arm and led her over to Pavel.

"Can she go with you?" I asked him. He turned to Abe as if to ask his permission to which he gave. "Watch your back, stay with Pavel and don't get yourself killed. Please don't make me have to worry about you too." She reached up and kissed my cheek and then I left to go get Christian. We separated into our groups so that we could take the house at different angles... I was with Christian, Abe, Janine & Sergei was another group, Celeste, Jean & Stan were together, Yuri was with a new Guardian Tyler Mitchell, apparently he was a force to be reckoned with..... and they were assigned to Guardian Leroux. The French guardians formed two smaller groups. We ran in our groups toward the house and took up our positions, as I approached the house from the rear I looked into one of the windows. It was empty, and the feeling of failure welled up inside me.

"Everyone in." Montague said through our earpieces. We all flooded the house and a thorough search was done, but I knew it wasn't where Rose was being held. Montague came up to me and asked, "What now Belikov. This is the only known strigoi hold in this area." He looked at me for a while and then told everyone to get back to the cars. I just stood there, knowing we were in the right place, just not the right house. I looked at Christian and then made up my mind.

"Christian..... We need to get back to the main road. Those poppy fields on the left.....do as Alice said. Burn it all." He nodded and we took off back to the cars. We all got in and drove back to the fields of flowers. Abe, Janine, Christian and I got out and looking around to make sure no-one was around, the two fire users lit up the rows of red flowers. It didn't take long for the flames to take hold of them and to my surprise, funnels of grey smoke rose into the air. _Follow the grey, it points the way.... _I smiled as I looked over to Christian, his face mirrored my own. Without a word we both ran in the direction that the smoke travelled on the wind. It wasn't long before everyone caught up to us, no-one saying anything, but I could imagine they all thought we'd both lost our minds. As we ran, we saw a small cottage in the distance so we slowed to a walk and then looked around for a hiding spot. It was still fairly dark, so we had to be careful...

"What is this place?" I asked Montague.

"I don't know. It's not a known Strigoi house."

"We need to do some reconnaissance. Stay here Christian." But by the look on his face, that was not going to happen. "Fine, but stay close. Janine?" So we, together with Montague, went to see if this was the right place. Then we all heard the sound that stopped up in our tracks. Strigoi! We all knew that screeching sound so we went back to the waiting guardians and then broke off into our groups again. We could hear sirens behind us, but we'd been given our 'sign'. _I'm coming Roza, please stay safe, I can't lose you...... _My body wanted to run in straight away, every fibre of my being urged me forward, but I had to wait until everyone was ready. I gave Oksana a quick call to ask her to go to Rose and help if she could, and then once everyone was in position, we moved in.


	6. To Find One's True Love

**Well, the usual disclaimers everyone.... But I hope you all enjoy!**

**Chapter Six**

**To Find One's True Love**

Rose's Point Of View.

Once the bolt was attached, I went back down the stairs and gathered together everything I'd found as weapons. Lissa had found some rocks that were not unlike coal, so we wrote our message to Oksana on the floor.

_We've killed Viktor. Don't make me sleep; I still feel sick, strigoi here. Hope we don't have to fight. Door barricaded, will try to leave at sunrise._

"That should do shouldn't it Rose?"

"Yeah, that's good Liss." I sighed as I thought about what I was going to have to do to get out of here. Just then the door at the top of the stairs flew open. I immediately went into attack mode. I grabbed Lissa and pulled her behind me. Five strigoi came down the stairs and I flew at them. I was aware that Lissa was using fire beside me, taking the air wouldn't do anything to them as _they_ didn't need air, but we did. She set the first one on fire, but I noticed that it wasn't as strong as it had been with Viktor, she was obviously still weak. I couldn't risk giving her my blood, knowing there were others upstairs, I had to be ready and strong; strong for _this_ attack that I knew would come.

Even though I was fighting hard, I felt Oksana come to me. _Shit! Not now...... _I thought and then she was gone again. Okay, she saw what was happening.... Then she was back. Suddenly two of the strigoi stopped, they just stood dazed.... someone was compelling them. I got the upper hand with the one I was fighting and drove one of the table legs into her chest, as she went down and I turned to see two still zoned out, another on fire and in the last throws of its 'life'.... and the other one was on the floor, screeching with his arms patting at himself as though trying to put out an invisible fire. I took my stake out of the now completely dead Strigoi, gathered a few more weapons and took the opportunity to stake the frozen ones and then while I hog tied them with the wire we'd found, Lissa kept the other one distracted. "Thank you Oksana_" _I said panting. Then I felt her leave.

I looked up to the open doorway and saw the other strigoi slink back into the house. Obviously they thought we were still too strong to oppose; they'd probably wait till we weakened. Something about one of those strigoi caught my attention, she looked familiar somehow..... Then anger flooded into me from Lissa and took over any other thoughts... I walked over to the chest in the corner of the room and took out the axe. I went over to the tied up, staked strigoi and finished them off. The axe was a lot sharper than the sword back in Spokane. I then went over to the one that Lissa had hold of and not waiting to stake and tie up, I just let the axe fly! I probably went a little overboard as I felt Lissa come and put her hands on my shoulders. As I felt her spirit wash over me, I fell to my knees and tried to control my breathing. We were both exhausted, if the others came back now, we probably wouldn't live much longer. I dragged myself back onto my feet and stood looking up at the door.

_We need to make them think we have a lot more fight in us yet. If we show any weakness they will attack again._ I said through our bond. She took a deep breath and nodded. We walked back to the front of the stairs about six feet away from the bottom one and stood as rock solid as we could muster and looked up. I was not going to give up. Every now and then one would come back a look at us, Liss would hold her hands up and conjure fire and the strigoi would just smile and slink back, this one however screeched at us, she was getting mad now, her patience was wearing thin.

_How long do you think we can keep going like this Rose?_

_As long as we have to Liss. _ I couldn't lose hope, if I did, Lissa would too and she's used spirit too much lately for her to lose hope now, I could already feel her mind wavering with some of the recent events. _They'll be here soon, I know it. _

_Rose....can you hear that?_

I listened, but couldn't hear anything at first. _What is that?_

_Sirens..... Fire; police maybe. I don't know what they sound like over here. _Then we could hear the strigoi upstairs, scurrying around like the vermin they were. _Sounds like something has them all stirred up Rose. Do you think?_

I didn't want to give her false hope, but the thought did cross my mind. Then I felt the tickle that was now familiar to me, Oksana was back. I couldn't help but feel my hopes rise.....

"Me too, Rose...." she said aloud. I smiled when I looked over to her and knew that she felt the same anticipation that I did. Then we heard the smashing of glass from upstairs. I wanted to go and see if it was a rescue, but if it wasn't I wouldn't be able to defend against all of those Strigoi and then that would leave Lissa at their mercy. I had to know what was going on before I moved.

"ROZA!" My heart thumped in my chest and my breath caught as I realised Dimitri was upstairs. He'd found us. I took one step forward but the instinct to defend Lissa stopped me, I wouldn't leave her unprotected.

"_DIMITRI!_" I yelled.... "WE'RE DOWN HERE." I could hear intense fighting upstairs, punching, glass and furniture smashing, Strigoi screams and hisses..... Two strigoi went to run past the open door of the basement where we were and saw us just standing there, one of them decided to finish us off apparently. _Let me deal with this one, you need to conserve your strength until I really need you._ I said to her.... Luckily it didn't take as much time to think my words as to say them... I pushed her over to the side of the room as the Strigoi flew down the stairs and leapt at me from about half way down but I was ready for him. As he was about to land I slid down to go underneath him, I spun around and jumped up behind him. As he turned I was ready for him. I only had my wooden table leg/stake, but I'd taken the opportunity while standing at the bottom of the staircase to sharpen it to a point against the stone wall....

This one was pretty fast and put up more of a fight than most, I found myself going into my own head space again and soon had the stake firmly in his chest, but we'd only have a few minutes before he'd wake. I quickly looked up to the open door and wondered if I should join the others, but I couldn't leave Lissa down here with.....it! "Liss, I need to deal with this one, go and rest for a bit on the bed."

"I'm alright Rose, do what you have to do." I nodded and picked up the axe.

As I finished I heard footsteps behind me and I turned ready to attack, but I found myself looking into the eyes of the man I loved. A solitary sob caught in my throat as I ran into his arms. He held me so tight and it felt like heaven. I would have loved to stay there forever but there was still fighting going on upstairs. I lifted my head away from his neck where I'd nuzzled in, and looked at his now tear filled eyes. "I knew you'd find me." I whispered as I wiped at the tear that rolled down his cheek.

"Always Roza." He smiled, "I couldn't think of anything else other than finding you. You are my life Roza, the other half of my soul." Then he kissed me. All I wanted was to lose myself in this kiss, but he pulled away. The pain that I'd seen in his face at first was now replaced with happiness, and his wonderful smile reached his eyes. "Stay here and protect Lissa. We're nearly done upstairs but I need to get back up there." I nodded, but I couldn't release my arms from around his neck. "I'll come back for you, I promise." He said smiling.

"I love you so much." I just stared into his eyes.

"I love you more." To which I replied with a soft giggle.

"Hurry back." He answered me with a quick kiss and I let go of his neck. I watched him climb back up the stairs and then turned back to Lissa. She was laying on the makeshift bed lost in thought. I walked over to her and sat beside her. "Are you alright Liss?" I said softly.

"Rose, what happened to me before.....with Viktor? Why did I do that? I can't believe I actually did that to....." a sob caught in her throat. I reached down and pulled her up into a hug.

"A lot has happened to you Lissa and he hurt you, not only physically, but emotionally, mentally and most of all.....personally. You trusted him like a father, and he betrayed in the most unforgivable way. You never had a chance to reconcile those emotions, and _this_ was the first time since he tortured you, that your feelings have been able to come out." She nodded in agreement, but I could feel that it didn't make her feel any better. I put my hand on her forehead and closed my eyes, I concentrated and her feelings of sadness and shame came into me. I felt them swirl in my chest as Lissa sat up and looked into my eyes. She placed her hand over my heart and healed the pain I felt.

"Thank you Rose." They may have been three simple words, but they were said for a number of things, things like my love for her, my dedication to her, for taking the darkness into me when she needed me to.....for all that and more.

"Always Liss, I'll always be here for you, you're my soul sister." She snickered at that.

"Yeah....we are soul sisters, aren't we?" I nodded... Then we both realised that it was quiet upstairs. We both stood up from the bed and turned to see Dimitri and Christian standing on the stairs looking at us.

"Well, don't just stand there Comrade." I said with a big grin on my face. Instead of coming down the rest of the stairs, he jumped over the handrail, landing with the grace of a gazelle, and we rushed into each other's arms. I was aware that a similar reunion was happening at the bottom of the staircase between Lissa & Christian, but I was too interested in what Dimitri was doing to me! He lifted me by one arm wrapped tight around my waist while the other arm went up my back and his hand wound up with my hair. Our lips were crushing together with so much pent up emotion I thought they'd soon merge together. I wrapped one leg around his body, to which he replied with a soft moan.

"Oh God Rose......" he murmured at my neck, "I nearly went out of my mind... Please don't do this to me again. I don't think I could handle a third time." I was so happy at this very moment all I did was smile. Any other time he would have been chastised for such a remark.

"I'll try not to, how's that?"

"Mmm." The look in his eyes just changed from happiness and relief to something very, very different. I knew that look, I loved that look......and it set me on fire. I think he saw my thoughts changing in my head and he smiled the most wicked smile..... I didn't know how much longer I could control myself. "Not here my love." He whispered and I bit my bottom lip as my heart rate doubled. "Don't worry; soon I'll let you express all those thoughts and more....." I couldn't help but giggle, all the thoughts and feelings going through me at the moment had me a little giddy!

Just then someone cleared their throat and I looked up to see my mother standing at the open doorway. I smiled at her and she raised her eyebrows at me, while trying to hold in the grin that wanted to show itself. "Come on you lot, time to go." Then she turned around and walked back into the house. _I love you too Mom _I said to myself. I was about to get down when Dimitri changed his hold on me. He was obviously not going to let me walk out of here. I looked over to Lissa & Christian who were both smiling at me. I couldn't help myself; I just had to say something....

"You know Christian; if you were strong like _my_ man.... you could carry your wife out of here too!" I felt Dimitri laugh under his breath, Christian smiled as he narrowed his eyes and produced a small ball of fire in his hands and Lissa gasped and then giggled. "Oow! I'm so scared Sparky......put that thing away before you hurt yourself." I smiled to myself as I nuzzled my face into Dimitri's neck and kissed him, and then I felt him shiver.

"Hmm, don't give me ideas Roza...." he whispered. I heard his smile in his words but soon felt myself slowly fall asleep in his arms. I was exhausted, physically and mentally. I smiled as I found myself back at the ski resort, looking out over the railing to the snow covered mountains.

"I know you're here...." I said. Then his arms wrapped around me from behind. He kissed my cheek and rested his chin on my shoulder.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah. I'm good." I turned in his arms and looked in his beautiful green eyes. "Thank you. You don't know how much it meant to me to have you there. Just knowing you were able to come to me......you gave me the strength to hold on." He smiled as he looked into my eyes.

"I knew he loved you, but I never realised just how much. His stupid Russian emotional armour....." I nodded in agreement; Dimitri was an expert in keeping his emotions hidden sometimes. "I love you Rose, I always will. But I am happy that you have someone who loves you so intensely, I know that he will _always_ be there for you, no matter what, he will _always_ fight for you. I am happy, that _you_ are so happy." A tear fell from my eye as I realised he was letting go, not that I was unhappy about that, but I would miss this closeness with him that I knew I was going to lose. But I also knew that he would always be in my life, and that made me extremely happy.

"I love you too Adrian, always remember that." He nodded and then took my hand. We walked down the stairs that led down to the snow and we talked about everything that had happened since the car accident. He told me that the French guardians had brought a young girl to the castle who was another spirit user. She, as well as everyone else, thought that she'd just not specialised yet. But after they were told about spirit, they bought her to us. I couldn't wait to meet her, from what Adrian said, she was fairly shy.


	7. A Love Worth Fighting For

**Sorry I'm a little late guys, I went and saw the mignight screening of New Moon last night and didn't get to bed till nearly 3am!!! But MAN was it worth every second! Brilliant movie.... But Kristen Stewart really needs to learn that when you're devestated and crying, that most people produce actual tears! ****But I'll see it over and over again.... LOL!**

**The usual disclaimers....**

**Chapter Seven**

**A Love Worth Fighting For.**

Dimitri's Point Of View.

"Dimitri." Whispered Janine, "I'm taking point. I know you want to go rush in and find her, but that's not going to help anyone. Follow my lead and we'll _all_ go home." I nodded, I knew she was right. "Sergei, stay with Abe no matter what." Abe was about to argue that he could look after himself, but I would have dared anyone to argue with her seeing the look in her eyes.

"Move in." Came Montague's voice in our earpieces. The small house was made from large rounded stones. It looked really old and well hidden in amongst all of these trees. We approached the house; squatting under the windows and Janine and I slowly raised our heads to look inside. Strigoi! About ten in all, which we could see anyway. There were more than enough guardians here to finish these ones off.

"I'll go in first," said Janine, "Then you Dimitri; Christian next. Sergei, you come in beside me and go to the right, Abe....._stay with Sergei_." I knew that look....I'd given it to Rose a number of times when I wanted her to stay out of harm's way. He gave her a half smile and nodded slowly. She gave a little huff and turned back to the door and the guardian mask fell back over her features. She reached up to the door knob that she was squatting next to and slowly opened it. She peaked into the opening and then opened it completely so that we could go in. We were all inside just as we heard the shrill scream of Strigoi.....either we'd been spotted or someone else had.

I could feel the heat from the flames that were obviously now in Christian's hands behind me; he was ready. Suddenly an arm shot out from behind the corner and connected with the side of Janine's head. I reached out and pushed her away and flung myself around the corner feet first and kicked the Strigoi in the knees. The snap that came from both knees told me that I'd broken them and the scream confirmed it. As he fell backwards I pushed myself forward and landed on his body and thrust my stake deep into his chest. As I waited for an instant, I looked around to see where I needed to be. Christian stood beside me and threw balls of fire over my head. I wasn't quick enough and the kick hit me on the shoulder, throwing me into the wall. Pain shot through my arm as it was squashed between the wall and my body, but I shook it off. As I looked up, the female burst into flames. I nodded to Christian and then got up and ran to the next one.

Glass was smashing in the next room, and I could see Abe and Sergei fighting with more strigoi in another room. Suddenly I saw an open door, well an opening with no door; it had been ripped off the hinges. "_ROZA_!" I yelled.... Then I heard the sweetest sound of all..... her voice!

""_DIMITRI!_" She yelled.... "WE'RE DOWN HERE." Hissing and screaming came from Abe's direction but I couldn't worry about that now....I was about to run to the opening when I saw two coming for me, one stopped and looked down the stairs....it then looked back at me before going down, the other one however had me in its sights. It launched itself at me with so much force; the wind was knocked out of me. I managed to get it in a headlock and tried to break its neck but I was in an awkward position so I pulled my left leg forward and then with everything I had, I kicked backwards into its knee. Again I heard the snap but it didn't loosen its grip, but it did when Sergei shoved his stake into its back. I gave a quick nod and ran for the door. At the bottom of the stairs I saw Rose finishing off the strigoi that had come down here before with an axe!! _An axe Rose? _I thought to myself.... I knew how she got when she was in fight mode so I approached her carefully....

"Roza." I said in a non-threatening voice, but she didn't hear me. I continued down the steps and she spun around with the axe ready for attack. The moment our eyes connected, she let out a quick sob, dropped the axe and ran into my arms. I wrapped my arms around her probably a little too tight, but I made a silent vow never to lose her again. She buried her face into my neck and I buried mine into her beautiful hair. I could hear fighting still going on upstairs but all I could think of was Rose.

She lifted her head to look at me and wiped the tear that fell from my eye and said, "I knew you'd find me."

"Always Roza." I said with a smile. "I couldn't think of anything _else_ other than finding you. You are my life Roza, the other half of my soul." Then I kissed her, the thought of never seeing her again had consumed me, now with her in my arms, my heart felt like it was going to explode and all I could do was smile at her. "Stay here and protect Lissa. We're nearly done upstairs but I need to get back up there." She nodded but didn't let me go.....I didn't want to let her go either, but I had to help those upstairs, "I'll come back for you, I promise." I said.

"I love you so much." She said. I would never tire of hearing her say that.

"I love you more." I said. She let out a giggle and her smile lit up her face.

"Hurry back." She said. I kissed her again and then we parted. I ran back up the stairs to see what was going on, but there was nothing to do. As I walked around the house I saw the bodies of the Strigoi. So many wasted lives, as much as I knew this was my life and this had to be done to protect the innocent, it still affected me to see so much death.

"Janine, Abe." I greeted them. Rose's mother looked worried. "They're fine, but I think they need to be checked out. I know that Rose has been hurt, Oksana told me."

"Yeah, she told me too. I think Christian is in the next room." She said pointing to the kitchen. "Go get them and take them back to the castle. I know that Montague had organised medical personnel to be there when you got back. We'll be right behind you." I nodded and went into the kitchen.

"Christian, are you finished here? I know there is someone who would like to see you." Relief washed over his face and he walked over to me.

"She's alright?" he asked.

"Yeah, but she looks pretty worn out. Christian, she's been bitten, I don't know how bad, but there are marks on her neck." Fury now replaced his previous relief.

"Where is she?" he asked.

"Come on, Rose is still with her." I led him to the basement doorway and we started to walk down but stopped when we realised they were having a 'moment'. Rose was sitting on the bed beside Lissa, who was lying down. They'd been through so much and relief that it was now over showed on their faces. They were softly laughing about something, and then Rose stood and helped Lissa up from the bed. Rose turned and looked up; seeing Christian and I standing there a huge grin spread across her face.

"Well, don't just stand there Comrade." She said. I couldn't wait to hold her again and going down the stairs would have taken too long, so I just jumped over the rail and she ran into my waiting arms. I could hear Christian laugh behind me and then I saw Lissa go to him from the corner of my eye, but all I cared about at that time was Rose..... I pulled her into my body and wound one of my hands into her beautiful hair; I kissed her with everything I had in me, all the worry, all the anxiety since she was taken from me spilled over. I held her tight with one arm and then ran the other down her side to her leg. She then wrapped it around my waist which nearly had me undone.......I let out a small moan as I fought to control myself, had we not been in the basement of a house full of dead Strigoi and a small army of guardians, Rose and I would now be together right now, but that would have to wait for a more appropriate time and place.

"Oh God Rose......" I murmured into her neck, "I nearly went out of my mind... Please don't do this to me again. I don't think I could handle a third time." I felt her smile.

"I'll try not to, how's that?" she said with a slight laugh.

"Mmm." I murmured. The rest of the world disappeared as I looked into her beautiful eyes, I wanted to lose myself in her, I wanted to feel every inch of her, my heart thumped against my ribs as I thought about making love to her again. I smiled as I saw her expression change, she must have been thinking the same things as I was, "Not here my love," I whispered into her. "Don't worry; soon I'll let you express all those thoughts and more....."

As she laughed I heard someone clear their throat behind us on the stairs. I turned as Rose looked up and saw Janine looking down on us. My instinct to suddenly separate from Rose was still there, but I was getting better at ignoring it.

"Come on you lot, time to go." She said. She was obviously glad to see Rose, as she tried not to smile, then she turned and went back into the house. Rose looked back to me and went to get down, but I was having none of that. I reached down and put my arm under her knees, I was not letting her go anytime soon. I turned to walk back to the staircase and saw both Lissa and Christian smile, just then Rose spoke.....

"You know Christian," she said, "If you were strong like _my_ man.... you could carry your wife out of here too!" I couldn't help but laugh; this is what I loved most about her, her ability to lighten the mood of any situation. She had a wicked sense of humour and she made me laugh. I saw Christian smile and produce a small ball of fire in his hands, "Oow! I'm so scared Sparky......put that thing away before you hurt yourself." I laughed out loud at this comment, it was so a 'Rose' comment......Lissa and Christian laughed too as I walked up the stairs. Rose put her face into my neck and kissed, a shiver ran down my spine and I took a quick breath in, "Hmm, don't give me ideas Roza...." I whispered smiling.... She laid her head against my shoulder as I walked through the house and I soon felt her relax into sleep. I looked down and smiled, she was a beautiful woman every day, but when she slept, she was breathtaking. _Sleep my Roza, you're safe now, I've got you._

* * * * *

Rose's Point Of View.

"It's time to go now Rose," Adrian smiled. "You're waking up."

"Will you be there when I get back?" I asked.

"Where else would I be silly?" then he started to fade. Slowly I became aware of Dimitri's aftershave filling my senses. I groaned softly with a smile against his chest, he was so warm.

"Hello maya krasaveetsa." He murmured. "You slept soundly, shame the trip wasn't longer."

"Mmm, I'll sleep later," I said then I looked up at him and added.... "Besides, I'm too hungry to sleep....." he laughed. I was still cradled in his arms even though we were in a car, it couldn't have been very comfortable for him but I thought it was wonderful.... He put one of his hands to my face and he looked like he wanted to say so much but didn't know where to start.

"I was so scared that I'd lost you. I don't know what I would have done if anything bad had happened to you." He closed his eyes and swallowed. I knew what he was feeling, I'd been there, I'd felt that pain.

"But nothing bad happened, I'm here and we're together, and we have a baby on the way." He gave me a half smile. I pulled myself up in his lap so that I could look into his eyes better. "Dimitri.....I'm fine."

"I love you so much Roza. I'm so sorry for the pain I caused you. I shudder to think of what you went through, knowing I'd been turned and having the courage to come free me....." his brow was creased in anguish and he shook his head. I had to get him out of this...... so I thought I'd lighten the mood a little.

"You're not going to cry on me are you?" I said with a smirk.... then I got what I was after, a smile....

"You're a wicked, wicked woman....you know that, don't you." Just then we drove through these massive iron gates and pulled up outside a beautiful white castle.... I looked out the window and thought about how beautiful it would be in the sunlight.

"Wow..." I said. "Is this where we were supposed to go?" He nodded. Stan had been driving and I smiled to him as he opened our door.

"You alright Rose?" he asked. Well, I never......

"Yes Stan, I'm good. Thank you for everything." He nodded and then walked up the few steps to the front door. Dimitri got out and then helped me out. Before I could object he had me in his arms again.

"I _can_ walk you know." I said. He just shook his head and kept walking. We walked in behind Stan but we hadn't gone far into the foyer when Oksana flew in front of us, Moroi could be fast when they wanted to be.... "Oksana..." I said. She was busy studying me, obviously checking my aura. She put her hand on my stomach and I felt the familiar cold and hot flush of spirit, she continued up to my shoulder and then my head. She opened her eyes and shook her head.

"Rose. One day soon I'm going to have to go home......then what will you do hey?" she said.

"Thank you." I smiled, "but just think about it Oksana. If you weren't here, just imagine how boring your life would be right now!" They all laughed as Dimitri let me stand on my own two feet. As soon as I was standing, Mark came from around the corner and held me by the shoulders.

"You fought well; you must have had an awesome teacher." He smiled....

"The best..." I said with a wink. I glanced up to Dimitri and he had the weirdest look to his face, somewhere between pride, admiration and lust! I rather liked the last one.

"I'm glad you're home safe and sound." Then he bent down and kissed my cheek. Just then I was almost crash tackled from behind...

"Rose!" Said Vikki, "I was so worried about you....." It took a minute to realise that she had come in with my parents.

"Did you....?" I looked up to Dimitri, who shrugged his shoulders and then glared at his little sister.

"She stowed away." He said. I turned back to her with my mouth open.....

"Don't be mad Rose; I _had_ to help find you." I wanted to throttle her for risking herself before she was ready, but she wasn't that much younger than when I killed for the first time in Spokane. The memory tugged at my heart, as it always did when I thought of that horrible time, when I thought of Mason. Mom and Dad then came up to me. She just looked into my eyes and pulled me into a bone crushing hug.

"Please don't make a habit of this Rose." She said into my hair. She let me go and put her hand on my cheek. She really was no good a mushy stuff......but she was getting better. Then my Dad hugged me.

"I know that you're going to probably get angry at me, but I can be stubborn too, so you're just going to have to suck it up and deal with it." I eyed him wearily wondering what he was going to say next. "From now on, until my grandchild is born, you will have a guardian." I was about to strongly voice my objection to this but the glare he gave me told me not to bother arguing. "You can object all you want, but it'll do you no good. You _will_ have a guardian and you'll _like_ it." He flashed me one of his rare smiles and it made me feel good that he wanted to do this.

"_Fine_! But I _won't_ like it...." then again, everyone laughed. For the first time since coming inside I looked up and took in the amazing foyer of the castle. It was breathtaking. The massive split staircase ascended to the second floor which was adorned in the biggest and most amazing art work, ornate vases filled with flowers stood on just as ornate pedestals. It was like a fairytale..... Dimitri led me to a room that had been converted into an operations room, filled with maps and plans, it sort of stabbed at my heart knowing what everyone had gone through, not knowing if we were alright or if they'd get us back.

"It's alright little Dhampir. I knew we'd find you." My heart leapt as I looked into his beautiful green eyes, I smiled and ran into his arms. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed his cheek while tears fell down from my eyes.

"Thank you Adrian. Thank you so much for never giving up on me, even when I've given you so many reasons to do so over the last year." He wiped my tears away with his fingers.

"Well, where else would I be Rose? If I wasn't here, I'd probably be living at Court drinking all night, smoking anything I could get my hands on, going to nightclubs each night and picking up any skirt that would have me....." I shook my head as he let me go.

"Gees Ivashkov, you have a high opinion of yourself, don't you? You really think it would be that easy to get a girl?" said Vikki from behind me. He lowered his head to look at her under his eyebrows and smiled.

"_You've_ never seen me in action." He said.

"Yeah I have......." she teased. Oh! She was so much like me..... "Not real impressive if you ask me. Men in Russia know how sweep a girl off her feet. Maybe I should take you there so you could learn a thing or two." Her Russian accent was stronger than Dimitri's so her words came out in a rather seductive way. I could see by Adrians face that she was getting to him and I wondered if he was going to take her challenge. The next few days would tell I guess.


	8. Sweet ReUnions

**Sorry about the lateness guys.... 'Puter problems.... Here's the next chapter, it's a little smaller than normal. It was originally bigger than this but I had to split it as it was too big. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it. hehehe**

**Chapter Eight**

**Sweet Re-unions.**

Everyone from the rescue was home now, bar the French guardians. They'd stayed behind to clean up. After Dimitri and my parents were satisfied that my injuries had been healed by Oksana, we all sat talking about what had happened.

_Should we tell them about what Viktor said? _Asked Lissa through the bond. I looked at her with a confused look.... _You know, the...'you shouldn't mess with us' part..._

_Not tonight. We'll tell them all tomorrow. If we say something now, they'll just want to talk about __that__ for the next few hours and I know that there is something else I'd rather be doing for the next hour or two....._ I grinned to myself as she laughed through the bond.

_I know what you mean._..... I looked over to Adrian who was now looking between Lissa and me with a big grin...... I forgot he could see our auras glow when we spoke between ourselves... I stuck my tongue out at him and smiled; Lissa saw the exchange and laughed again which got everyone's attention.

"None of your business!" I said to everyone as I stood up. "Well, the sun's coming up and I'm off to bed. I'll see you all in the morning. Night...." I walked off hoping that Dimitri would follow, but he didn't. As I put my foot on the first step of the staircase, I stopped and peeked into the room I'd just left. He was still seated but looking directly into my eyes. I knew exactly what he was thinking.... I laughed under my breath and ran upstairs......

After I was checked by the doctor, I was allowed to go take a shower so I knew where my room was. I opened the door and was still blown away by the grandeur of it. It was as ornate at the foyer... if not more! It was almost a shame to mess up the bed......well, almost! I walked into the massive walk-in-robe on one side of the room and opened the draw that contained my pyjamas, but something caught my eye.....black lace....._I didn't pack this_ I thought to myself. Lifting it up to look at it, I smiled..... I took it into the bathroom and put it on. As I stood there looking in the mirror admiring my little bump.....yes, I had a bump.... I heard the door open and close.

"Roza?" he called.... I walked to the door and opened it. The instant he saw me, his eyes changed. If someone could be consumed by looks alone, I would no longer be standing here! "Whoa!....." Then I was in his arms before I even saw him move. I dangled a foot off the ground, our lips furiously trying to devour each other as he took me to the bed.

He laid me back onto the golden silk cover and pushed the cushions off in one sweep of his arm. His body was half on me and half on the bed and his hand searched my body as his mouth stayed with mine. I let out a gasp as his hand found its mark and my body tingled with anticipation. I needed him so much; I grabbed his shirt and ripped it open; buttons flew everywhere.... He could no longer contain himself either and he had my negligee off in two seconds... I didn't see if it was in pieces or not, but I didn't hear any ripping, so I was hopeful that I could wear it again. He pulled himself onto his hands above me and looked deep into my eyes then he bent down and kissed my neck. Moans escaped my mouth as he worked his way down to each breast and then he kissed all the way down to my stomach. My body was on fire and I thought I was going to explode. I moved myself so that I was now completely under him and he smiled as he entered me, my body shuddered..... Wave after wave of pleasure pealed through every inch of me. I wrapped my legs around his body and we moved together as one.

My body quietened, but I certainly didn't have my fill of him, so I flipped him over onto his back and straddled him. My eyes and hands worked their way up his stunning body; I bent forward and kissed.....all the way up to his neck. The sound coming from his throat was almost a purr.... he took my face in his hands and pulled me to his lips. Our movement caused another wave of pleasure to course through my body and then he rolled me onto my back once more. I looked up into his lust filled eyes as he pushed into me harder and faster......it wasn't long before tremors went through both of us...... We laid together; a fine layer of sweat over our bodies, revelling in the memory of what we'd just shared. I adored this man..... _My_ man.

That night we didn't sleep much.... not until it was nearly time to get up. Dimitri informed me that he'd put a 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the door before coming in last night. My father had a villa not too far away...of course.... and Adrian's family owned one here as well, so everyone left just after Dimitri came upstairs. The place was vacant other than the staff and Christian and Lissa, and they were in the other wing..... As I started to wake, I heard a knock at the door and wondered who it would be.

I opened my eyes to see Dimitri standing at the end of the bed in his boxers. "Breakfast my love?" he said. "I thought you might be a little hungry after last night's efforts." I smiled as my stomach grumbled.....

"You know me so well." I said. He went and opened the door and pulled in a food trolley. As the smell wafted over to me I could no longer stay where I was so I got out of bed as fast as I could.

"Dining A La Naturalé, are we?" he grinned. I then realised I was naked.

"When in France..... Why, is it worrying you?"

"No, not at all....." he said with smile. He looked up and down my body and shook his head.... And with a quick flick on his brows and a smirk on his face, he said, "But eat quick Roza!" I couldn't help but giggle as I saw he was now working hard to restraining himself....

* * *

It was a good 24 hours before we left our room. We thought we should join the others for a while; after all, we didn't want to be rude.... As we walked into the dining room, which was enormous, I saw Lissa, Christian, Pavel & a guardian I didn't know....

"Oh!" said Christian, "You're not dead after all....."

"Nope..... Dead people can't do what we've been doing...." I said with a smirk.

_Oh Rose!!! You are so __**bad**__! Is that all you've been doing?_

"Mostly." I said aloud. I got the usual look from Christian; he hated not knowing what we were talking about. That's why I'd answer aloud sometimes.....just to annoy him!

"Rose," said Lissa, "This is Tyler Mitchell; he's a new guardian to St Vladimir's." He was quite good looking actually; 20, 21 maybe, long mousy brown curls covered his head, deep chocolate eyes and olive skin. He stood up to shake my hand and I noticed how tall he was, over 6 feet, but not as big as Dimitri.

"Guardian Hathaway. Nice to finally meet you; I've heard a lot about you." He had a southern accent and his smile would be deadly with the girls back at the academy.

"All bad I hope." I grinned. Lissa just shook her head.

"Most of it, yeah... But I won't hold _that_ against you." I was pretty sure I was going to like him. The cook brought out tray after tray of food, my mouth watered and my stomach growled, to the amusement of those at the table... Sausages, bacon, eggs.....pancakes with ice-cream and maple syrup.... Oh my God.... I'd died and gone to heaven! I stuffed my face and fell back into the chair utterly content. "Well that was impressive." Said Mitchell.

"I have a healthy appetite, especially now..." I looked over to Dimitri who was looking at me with lusty eyes... "But.....I want something else...."

"You're kidding right? You just had half of what was brought out. Surely there's no more room in _that_ stomach." He said in disbelief.

"No, I'm not kidding..." I glared at him. "But it doesn't matter anyway; I don't know what I want." I turned to Dimitri again but had to look away because he still had those eyes looking at me... "I'm going for a run; maybe I'll work out what I want while I'm out there." I stood up to go get changed.

Back in the room I went into the closet, grabbed my running shorts and tank top and then walked over to the bed. I stripped off to my underwear, throwing my clothes onto the bed when the door opened. "Oh, no you don't...." I said. His eyebrow rose suggestively as his eyes scanned my nearly naked body. Dimitri was exceptionally fast when he wanted to be and he was standing in front of me in a flash.

His body was inches away from mine and then he bent forward for what I expected would be a kiss but instead he smiled and breathed, "Are you sure maya krasaveetsa?" on my lips. Pregnancy hormones made all my senses intensify, desire was _especially_ affected. It was hard to control myself around him at any time, let alone when he was _trying_ to seduce me.... I almost had myself under control enough to say 'yes' to his previous question, but then he had to go ruin it all.... he lifted my hair back from my shoulders and ran his lips down my neck, just enough to tickle the hairs without actually touching my skin. He was definitely NOT playing fair! I grabbed him around his body and threw him to the bed, in one movement I was straddled over him. I leant forward and my hair fell forward around his smiling face.

"Are you trying to ruin my work ethic?"

"Am I succeeding?" I grinned widely in answer.....


	9. The Plot Thickens

**Alright, I'm back at the ususal time... Although, I may have to go to once a week updates as I'm starting a new job next week.... I'm not going to have the time to write like I do now.... :-( But I will try to update as much as I can.... Thanks for all of your reviews.... You all know how much they mean to me, you're all so terrific.**

**Chapter Nine**

**The Plot Thickens**

I thought about nothing while I breathed in his scent....there was no place better in this world than being wrapped in his arms, so I was a little peeved when my bliss was interrupted.

_Rose? I'm gathering you're not running as I didn't see you guys come back down, _I couldn't help but smile.... _But I thought you'd like to know that your parents are here._

I bolted up.... "Shit!" I said. Dimitri sat up beside me....

"What's wrong?" he asked worried.

"Playtime's over.... Granny and Pop are here." He giggled...

"I'd _love_ to see you call them that!"

"What.....too chicken to do it yourself?"

"Chicken? No....but I _am_ a self preservationist... plus, your mother won't hit you."

"What makes you think _that_? She's done it before." He shook his head and got out of bed. I sighed as his naked Adonis body walked away from me. I got out of bed and put on the clothes I'd got out earlier. We walked downstairs and went outside to where I knew they all were. As we walked through the massive formal dining room that led to the courtyard, my eyes came to a girl about my age that I'd never seen before... She was standing next to the French Guardian named Montague that I'd met when we got home.

"I wonder who she is?" I asked Dimitri.

"That's probably Yelena Zahkov. When Oksana was....doing her thing with you, I had to explain to Guardian Montague what was happening. He'd never seen a spirit user in action before; actually I don't think he'd ever heard of spirit before now. Anyway, when I told him about it all, he remembered this girl from last year and we think she's a spirit user; and if she's still here after all this time, I'm gathering that she probably is, Adrian and Oksana have worked with her by now." I'd have to talk to Lissa about her later when we were alone.

"I didn't realise your bedroom was large enough to run around in Rose." Christian said through his laughing. I walked over to the empty chairs and sat down as I gave a _very_ 'Rose' answer.

"Yeah it is.... Have you only got a _small_ one Sparky?" I said, slipping the double meaning into my words. "But don't worry about me Christian; I found other, more enjoyable ways to burn up the calories I ate for breakfast." Mitchell nearly choked on the drink he'd just taken a mouthful of and I was happy to see that one of my comments finally got a smile onto Pavel's normally stoic face. The French guardians looked around like they were going to be strung and quartered just for _listening_ to our conversation, and my mother was giving me her famous Hathaway death stare.... Everyone else had smirks on their faces....

_Rose, don't kill the new guardian just yet please.... I like this one._

_Oh really Liss? He doesn't look your type._

_Funny Rose, real funny. _I couldn't help but giggle....

_Remember __I__ know what you're thinking and feeling..._

_Rose! I am not thinking __that__..._

"What are you two talking about now?" said Adrian.

"Adrian," I said under my eyebrows, "if we wanted everyone to hear our conversations, we would say them out loud. So stop asking when you already know the answer." My father explained to Mitchell about our bond... "Hello Granny and Pop! Have a nice night?" I said it with a smile, but my mother didn't seem to think I was very funny this morning.... everyone else thought it was funny though, but luckily Lissa grabbed my attention away from Mom as I'm sure she was about to say something.

_Rose, stop mucking around, I know what you're doing. Are you going to tell them or am I? _Said Lissa. I had hoped that she'd forgotten about it.

I sighed and said, _I am not wasting time......fine, you tell them then. _Then I gave her a half grin as I knew she wanted me to tell them. She shook her head at me and then got everyone's attention. I looked down at the ground waiting for her to start.

"Um, there's something that I think you all should know." Everyone looked at her and I could see out of my peripheral vision that some heads turned in my direction so I looked up and found Dimitri & Mom's eyes scrutinising me. I knew I'd get in trouble for not saying anything sooner so I just looked back down to the ground. "We didn't say anything before now because _Rose_ didn't think it was all that important." I looked up and glared at her. "When Viktor had us and just before he.....bit me, he said something to Rose." Now everyone looked to me....

"She's telling the story...." I said with a shrug of my shoulders.

"After Oksana & Adrian came to Rose the first time, she unfortunately woke up after they'd come back to the basement. Viktor and the other strigoi...." she explained. "Anyway, they thought there was something wrong with her so they started to drag her away. Well when she woke up and realised that she was unchained she took the opportunity and fought with the other strigoi smashing him into a table. She saw that one of the table legs had broken so she smashed it in half and staked him with it, but by that time Viktor had hold of me. He told Rose to take the stake out of the other strigoi but when she refused and went back to the wall where they'd had her chained, Viktor got mad and said...... '_There are consequences for playing with __us __Rose.' _He made sure to emphasise the '_us'_ part too, that's when he bit me. Then Rose attacked him, he hit her so hard he sent her flying into the post where she got hurt and that's when I set him on fire."

I saw Dimitri stiffen when Lissa mentioned Viktor hitting me...._ Great! Thanks Liss, I didn't tell Dimitri the details about when I got hurt, I told him it was nothing.... _I said through the bond....

_Sorry._ She said back.

"Why didn't you tell me this before?" he asked me.

"Because I didn't think anything of it, that's why. Did you _see_ anyone else up there that you knew? If there _was_ someone working with him, don't you think they would have been there too?" It sounded pretty reasonable to me...

"No, I didn't see anyone else there, but that doesn't mean _anything_ Rose, it was night, they could have been out feeding." I hadn't thought about that.

"Ah...." Mitchell said. Everyone turned to look at him. "A female ran out of the front door just as we heard the sirens going to the fire. A French guardian tried to track her, but she was too fast and he lost her." A memory flashed into my head, I remembered thinking that there was something familiar about one of those Strigoi, before that last five came down to finish us off. What _was_ it about her?

"What are you remembering Rose?" Lissa asked. I looked at her confused.

"I just got a flash of memory from you." She said.

"Um, before those five strigoi came down I saw a female that looked familiar somehow, but I can't really remember what she looked like, I just have this feeling like it was someone I knew....." Lissa had been trying to 'see' like Oksana, but she still had trouble with it.

"Rose, Can I have a look? I might be able to pull out a face." asked Oksana. I nodded because I wanted to find out what I'd seen and couldn't quite remember.

"Will I remember what you see? So I can know who it was?"

"Yeah, you should."

I felt the tingle in my mind as she searched, "A woman, deep red auburn hair, scars on her face.... I don't know her." But I did, my heart nearly stopped as I could finally put a name to the face. I jumped up out of the chair suddenly feeling nauseous. I shot a look to Lissa.

_Mrs Karp! _I said through the bond.

"No!" she yelled as she stood up.


	10. Ready Or Not

**Hi Everyone, Well, here's the next installment, but I start work tomorrow, so I promise I will update as soon as I'm able.... Thank you all for your reviews.....you all know how much I love reading them.... Oh, and thanks for the idea Andrea!!! I may use it yet!!! hehehe **

**Chapter Ten.**

**Ready or not**

Suddenly everyone was on their feet. Dimitri had me by my shoulders, Christian had Lissa, both trying to turn us away from each other but my eyes were locked with hers. The shock of the realisation had drawn me into Lissa's head, along with Oksana who had been with me. Lissa's emotions were so turbulent it took me a minute to get out. By this time my mother was now a few inches away from my face.

"She was a teacher?" Oksana had seen everything we'd thought of about.

"Rose, who was it?" asked mom.

I could hardly say the words.... I hadn't seen Sonya Karp since they took her away. I knew she'd gone Strigoi, but I thought Guardian Tanner had killed her. Apparently he'd taken nearly six months to find her and kill her before returning to St Vladimir's, well at least that's what _he_ had said....

"It was Mrs Karp." Said Lissa from beside me, apparently I'd lost all ability to speak. I heard people gasp from around me, the nausea hadn't gone away; only increased, and so I turned out of Dimitri's grip and ran inside. Way too much had happened in the last few months.... If I wasn't going to go crazy from the side effects of spirit, then the events of my life certainly had my sanity in their sites....

"Roza." I heard from the other side of the bathroom door. I was sitting on the floor beside the toilet with my elbows on my raised knees, head in my hands. It felt like the universe was out to get me. What had I done that had been so bad.....that I deserved all this drama in my life? "Are you alright? Can I come in?" he asked. I just closed my eyes and tried to imagine I was a normal eighteen year old with a great life. _Just click your heels three times and say 'I wish I was in Kansas.' _I thought to myself. I didn't hear the door open, but I felt him sit down beside me. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me into him.

"I thought Tanner killed her." I whispered. "He _said_ he killed her.... why would he say that if he didn't." He kissed the top of my head but said nothing; obviously he was thinking the same thing as I was. I sat up and looked into his eyes. "Do you think _he_ told her we were coming here?"

"I'm not sure," he said, "but it looks that way to me." A lot was going through my mind, a lot of questions and he must have seen the turmoil in my eyes. "What are you thinking Roza? Talk to me." A single tear welled up and escaped.

"Why is this all happening Dimitri? I'm bringing a child into this......deadly world. What if I can't.....can't....protect our baby from....all this...." I couldn't say anymore, the lump in my throat stopped all the words. He pulled me in tighter

"You're not alone in this Rose. Do you not see how many people are here for you? Don't you realise the lengths _I_ would go to, to protect you and our child?" I nodded as I looked at him.

"Yet they still got to me, and Lissa. I couldn't stop them and neither could anyone else." I closed my eyes and buried my face in his chest as I let the tears flow. He knew I was right, I saw it in his eyes.

"Roza, we _will_ work this out." He said. I looked back up at him and noticed he was looking at the door; I turned and saw my mother there. "I'll let you two talk. Come on, hop off the cold floor." He kissed me softly on the lips and looked at me with determination and then helped me stand up. "Janine." He nodded with a smile.

"Dimitri." She said. I gave a brief laugh under my breath and shook my head at them, always guardians.... I followed Dimitri out of the bathroom and mom took me by the arm and led me to the large state room that was previously the operations room used to find us. "How are you feeling Rose?"

"I'm good I suppose, between Lissa and Oksana I'm all patched up." She nodded.

"And the baby, it's alright?"

"Yeah." I looked down in thought as she mentioned the baby. I didn't think I've ever felt this unsure of my ability to protect someone I loved before, and it scared the hell out of me.

"He was right Rosemarie." I looked up to her realising that she'd heard what I'd said about the baby. "Nothing will _ever_ happen to you or your baby again. We _will_ work this out. By the way, I rang Kirova after what you said outside; they've got Tanner in custody. He's adamant that he killed Sonya. She wants us to come back so that Oksana can see if he really believes that or if he's lying. Are you sure it was her?"

"Yeah. I knew there was something familiar about her at the house, but I really only saw her as she was walking away, but when Oksana described her, everything fitted. I did see her face before, but I always thought of her as dead, so I didn't recognise her at first. But it was definitely her." She nodded back to me.

"We'll have one more day here and then we'll head back. You & the Princess both need a bit more rest before flying." She looked like she wanted to say something else and then she lifted her hand to my face and sighed. "There was always a little doubt in my mind on how committed he was to you, and then when you said you were pregnant, I got worried that he wouldn't stick around, I know how much being a guardian; and his duty as one means to him. But I saw what he went through not knowing where you were and I saw just how deeply he loves you." I don't think my mother has ever talked about 'feelings' so much before. Then she pulled me to her in a hug and held me tight. It felt so good; so many years I wanted to be held like this by my mother, wondering what it would feel like. I'm glad I got the chance to experience this.

After lunch Dimitri and I went for a walk around the castle grounds, I'd pulled myself together after my little melt down. Guardian Mitchell followed with Adrian and Vikki. I sat down under a tree with Adrian as the other three decided on an impromptu training lesson. "Viktoria, you're arms are too low." He'd yell at her. She'd turn and glare at him like I used to and Adrian would laugh every time.

"No wonder you two get on so well little Dhampir." I just smiled and shook my head. "What, no response?"

"She has more self control than I did."

"Hmm, not as much as you would think....." He looked like the cat that swallowed the canary.... Just then Dimitri's voice yelled out.

"Viktoria! Pravilniy...... _Nyet_..." He often reverted to Russian when speaking to his sister, though I hated not knowing what he was saying.

"Dimka! Leave me alone!" she yelled, Mitchell used her distraction to his advantage. He dropped and swung his legs around catching her behind the knees and she went down. But she was quick; just like her brother. She must have seen him start to drop and as she went down she started to twist. Landing on her arms she swung her legs connecting with his stomach. It made me smile to see so much of Dimitri in her; I wondered how much they'd trained together in the past. I looked over to Adrian to make a comment about her fighting skills and I briefly saw the look on his face; but he looked down when he realised that I'd looked at him. I saw my opening....

"See something you like Dream boy?" I grinned.

"Always little Dhampir, especially when you're around." That deserved an elbow to the ribs. I shook my head in exasperation.

"You are so stubborn." I said, he smiled as he kept watching at the fight, not taking his eyes off Vikki.

"Not really Rose. I just like teasing you, plus....things are definitely looking up." He said with a smile on his face. I looked over to Vikki and then back at him and noticed something different.

"Not that I'm trying to get rid of you or anything, but why don't you take Vikki for a tour around the grounds?"

"No.....that doesn't sound like you're trying to get rid of me at all Rose."

"I'm not! I'd just like to talk to Dimitri alone for a while." Any excuse would do.... He looked at me trying to work out if I was lying or not and then turned to the others.

"Vikki, wanna go for a walk?" He probably said that at the wrong time and so she learned her second "Don't get distracted" lesson. Mitchell tackled her around the waist, flipping her over his shoulder. She landed with a thud which had all of us running to see if she was alright. After getting her breath back, and punching Adrian in the arm for distracting her, they walked off together.

The next day we lazed around till it was time to leave. There was a lot to get through when we got back. Lissa and I both went to see Dr La Ferve to make sure that we were fine to fly and then we got into the cars to go to the airport. This time we left in the daylight hours. Because Dad was coming back with us, I got to fly in his Concorde. It was amazing... and we got home in just over four hours.


	11. When One Door Closes

**Seeing that you all sent such lovely reviews, and I've got a couple more chapters done, I thought that I'd be nice and update for you all.... I hope you enjoy it....**

**But don't forget.....KEEP UPDATING!!!! LOL**

**Chapter Eleven**

**When one door closes.......**

Adrian's Point Of View

I heard the cars pull up outside the castle; I closed my eyes and thanked whatever God there was for bringing Lissa & Rose back alive and well, Rose especially. I couldn't wait to see her face. As the door opened, Oksana who was standing beside me ran to the foyer.

"Oksana..." Her voice was like music. She was really here, she really was safe. I walked slowly out to give time for the others to say their hellos. I could see the glow of healing happening before I reached them, Oksana was obviously healing Rose and my heart skipped a beat thinking there was something that _needed_ healing.... Oksana's hand was at Rose's head as I walked around the corner.

"Rose. One day soon I'm going to have to go home......then what will you do hey?" she said. I smiled at that, it was true, Rose had a habit of getting herself hurt, seriously hurt sometimes, I might have to see if I can get Oksana to stay in the US; a nice isolated house would probably do....Rose told me that her house was away from everyone else in Baia.

"Thank you." Said Rose, "but just think about it Oksana. If you weren't here, just imagine how boring your life would be right now!" Everyone laughed at her comment, it was such a 'Rose' thing to say, I loved her dry wit; it's what drew me to her in the first place. She treated me like she treated everyone else, right from the first moment I saw her, who I was and how rich I am didn't even come into it, she gave me as much curry as she gave everyone else and I loved it.

Mark was the next to welcome her home, but he had to go ruin it by complementing Dimitri's teaching prowess.....mmm, he taught her alright! But then as her feet hit the ground, the whirlwind otherwise known as Vikki, flew inside and grabbed Rose around her shoulders, nearly knocking her off her feet, lucky she has good balance. Vikki was so much like Rose; it was hard not to admire her. Before the rescue, I was talking to her one minute only to turn around and find her gone. I searched the castle and when I didn't find her I realised that she'd more than likely snuck out with the rescuers. I smiled when I remembered thinking that it was something that Rose would have done as well.... Yeah.....she was _very_ much like Rose. She was taller though, longer, more refined leg muscles but still had all the curves in all the right places. _Damn....what made me think that?_

She apologised to Rose for stowing away and Rose looked like she was going to tan her hide, but in a rare show of self control, she said nothing. What really surprised me was her mother, Janine Badass Hathaway almost let her guard down 100% to show Rose just how much she loved her, but before it got too emotional, she withdrew like always. Her father, Abe, he was a scary Moroi, though I would never give him the satisfaction of knowing that, he became a different person around his daughter, almost normal. I knew he'd do everything possible for her without even thinking about it. But when he said that he was assigning a guardian to her while she was pregnant, I thought Rose was going to have kittens.....but I saw a flash of red emanating through her aura, she realised he was doing this out of love for her and her baby and she loved him for it. But Rose being Rose, couldn't let the opportunity go by without having her say.... "_Fine_! But I _won't_ like it...." I just shook my head and laughed....

She looked up and around the foyer, taking in its grandeur. I could see she wanted to explore so I turned back into the converted operations room, I'd see her later, but they were coming in. Her face and aura showed shock at what was here, a little regret too, knowing Rose as I do, she obviously felt bad that she'd made everyone worry about her.

"It's alright little Dhampir. I knew we'd find you." I said. Her eyes opened wide and she ran into my arms, I closed my eyes as her beautiful hair flew into my face, her scent always pulled at my heart. She kissed me on my cheek and then pulled back to look at me and tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Thank you Adrian. Thank you so much for never giving up on me, even when I've given you so many reasons to do so over the last year." She said as I wiped the tears away. She _had_ given me reasons to walk away, but she was like a giant magnet that I just couldn't pull myself away from, although lately the pull had become less. I had to think of something to say that wasn't too mushy, I think she'd had enough mush from everyone else.

"Well, where else would I be Rose? If I wasn't here, I'd probably be living at Court drinking all night, smoking anything I could get my hands on, going to nightclubs and picking up any skirt that would have me each night....." her smile lit up her face as she shook her head, but as I put her back on the floor, the other thorn in my side spoke up.

"Gees Ivashkov, you have a high opinion of yourself, don't you?" said Vikki who was walking up behind Rose. "You really think it would be that easy to get a girl?" I looked right into her beautiful brown eyes and smiled, how lucky was I.....I had two of the most amazing sparing partners anyone could wish for. They both kept me grounded, never letting me forget my place in the world.

"You've never seen me in action." I said with a playful flick of my eyebrows...

"Yeah I have......." she said with one of her amazing smiles. "Not real impressive if you ask me. Men in Russia know how sweep a girl off her feet. Maybe I should take you there so you could learn a thing or two." _Hmm.... was that an invitation? _Sometimes, the looks she gave me were the ones that I'd wished Rose would give me, but never did. And she was more than capable of taking me on. Her accent wasn't half bad either. I'd heard plenty of Russian accents before, but it certainly sounded different coming out of _her_ mouth.

As we all sat around the room, I looked over to Rose and Lissa; their aura's glowed. Sometimes they forgot that I could see when they spoke between themselves and I wondered what was being said now; whatever it was at first didn't impress Rose, but then she started to blush slightly. She saw me looking at them and realised I'd seen their silent conversation so she stuck her tongue out at me and smiled, Lissa's laugh at our exchange got everyone's attention onto Rose.

She stood up signalling that she was done for the night and said, "None of your business!" to everyone. "Well, the sun's coming up and I'm off to bed. I'll see you all in the morning. Night...." Dimitri's eyes never left her as she walked off to the foyer, then he giggled under his breath as I saw her run up the stairs. I expected him to go straight away, but he didn't.

"Dimitri. Do you know what that was all about?" Janine asked.

"No. But I'll ask, I don't know if she'll tell me, you all know she does things in her own time." _You're not wrong there Belikov, _I thought to myself. Abe stood up and held his hand out to Janine.

"Well, I'm sure everyone is exhausted after the recent events," he said, "and I know that the Princess definitely needs to sleep, so I think we should all come back tomorrow. I've got a large villa not too far away, plenty of room for everyone."

"My family's villa is only about 10 minutes from here too." I said. I looked around and noticed that the older guardians and Abe were walking together and the younger ones stayed with me, including Vikki, so obviously we were all going back to my place! Dimitri stood and said good night to everyone but didn't wait for us all to leave; he just walked at a rather brisk pace to the staircase and sprinted up three steps at a time. A little jolt of jealousy tugged at my heart as I gave a little sigh and shook my head.

Just then a hand came onto my shoulder, "Don't worry Adrian," said Vikki, "you'll have someone to run after soon enough......if you open up your eyes wide enough to see." She flashed me a grin and walked to the front door. Before going around the corner of the room that led to the foyer, she stopped and looked at me. "Are you coming? After all, I'll need someone to show me how to.......get there." She winked at me with a wicked smile and then disappeared behind the wall. _Yup! Definitely an invitation..... _But would I take it? As I walked to the foyer, I looked up to the stair case and then to the door where Vikki had just gone through and realised that my life was now at a crossroad. Left would keep me anchored to someone who I knew loved me in a way, but was starting a life with someone she adored, and to the right was to someone who I definitely had chemistry with and was offering a chance of a happy life..... _Just open up your eyes wide enough to see, _she said.... I smiled as I took one last look up the stairs...."Bye Rose." I whispered to myself then I turned and walked out the door, ready to grab my future life with both hands.

I got to the car and Vikki was in the front seat but Stan, Tyler and Celeste were in the back seats. I got into the driver's seat and leant over to Vikki. "You....are bad. Don't start something you don't want me to finish Vikki." I whispered to her under my breath with a half smile.

She smiled and raised her eyebrows, "I never say anything I don't mean Adrian."

"Mmm...." I nodded while looking deep into her eyes. "Just remember, you started it." I sat up and started the car. I glanced over to her and she was biting her bottom lip with a big grin on her face. We followed Abe's car out of the castles gates and was surprised to see that his villa was only a few hundred yards away from mine; _this_ was something I never knew. I knew there were other Moroi in the area, but I never knew they were so close, _especially_ not him.

My family's villa had a constant staff, they lived here so that whenever me or my family suddenly turned up, everything was on hand, and the wards were always up; kept strong by the Moroi staff. I opened the door and everyone followed me in. "The kitchen is though there," I said pointing to the left, "If you want something to eat or drink, it's fully stocked." One of the staff greeted me and asked if we had any luggage, to which I said was in the car. "Do you want to see your room?" I asked Vikki. She went to say something but stopped herself, then chose something else to say.

"Sure, then I expect a full tour. After all, I wouldn't want to get disorientated and find myself in someone _else's_ room now......would I?" Oh.....she was going to fun! It wasn't long before Stan, Tyler and Celeste went to their rooms, which left Vikki and me standing at the marble barricade in the courtyard which overlooked the rear gardens. I had my cigarettes and I'd found my favourite bottle of Vodka and intended to do a little self medication.... "Are you sure Adrian?" she asked from beside me. I turned to her in confusion.

"Sure about what?" I asked. She walked closer to me and stood about one foot away. She was nearly as tall as me, so looking into her eyes wasn't a problem.

"Are you sure you're ready?" Something in her expression told me exactly what she meant and I felt a tingle run down my spine. I smiled at her forwardness....

"Are you?" The smile fell from her face only to be replaced by fire....and then she closed the distance between us and kissed me. It shocked me a little at first, but I wasn't _that_ shocked..... I threw the glass in my hand into the garden that was behind the barricade I was leaning against and took her face in my hands. She was a very good kisser, and I had to use all my willpower not to take things any further. I never expected to feel like this......about anyone else, maybe I _was_ ready..... Suddenly I felt like the prey! "Yup...." I said when I pulled back to look at her, "You _are_ bad."


	12. Explanations & Revelations

**Okay.... Thank you all for being so patient... I'm still writing when I can so I have a few more chapters. I'm enjoying the new job, but it doesn't leave all that much time for writing!!! LOL Anyway, I hope you like this...**

**Chapter Twelve**

**Explanations & Revelations **

Rose's Point of View

We arrived back at the Academy's airport and were met by Kirova and other guardians. I was happy to be home even if was only for a short time. In a few days we'd be off to Court, but we had to deal with Tanner first.

"I'm glad to see that you are both back with us safe and sound." It felt really weird having her say nice things, I was way too used to her constant lectures and threats; 'nice' was a little unsettling.

"Thank you headmistress." Said Lissa, I just nodded with a smile, _Oh! I really was acting like Dimitri..._

"I'm sorry that either one of you had to go through what you did because of one of our guardians. Come.....I'm sure that you want to speak to _former_ Guardian Tanner."

"Yes..." said a chorus behind me. Dimitri, Mom & Dad all wanted a few minutes alone with him, but I didn't think that would be a good idea. We walked into the building that held the cells, the same cells that housed Viktor after he kidnapped Lissa. Huh.....I was beginning to see a pattern..... Alberta and Oksana went in to question him about Mrs Karp; apparently no-one trusted _me_ to keep my cool, nor Lissa not to go troppo! We stayed in another room and watched on a closed circuit TV.

"Tanner." Alberta said with a nod of her head. He looked at her but just nodded back, saying nothing. "Sonya is still walking as a strigoi. How is that possible if you did as you said you did, and killed her?"

"I _did_ kill her....I _remember_ killing her." He looked at the table, but not _actually_ looking at the table....he had a distance in his eyes, like he was remembering. "I found her in New York City, I followed the bodies. She was no longer the woman I knew. We fought in one of the back alleys, no-one was around and she had me against the wall; inches away from my face and she said that she remembered our time together, but she liked who she was now, liked that she no longer had to deal with the effects of spirit.... She sniffed at my neck and said that she wanted me to join her.... which I wouldn't.....and then....." His brow creased as he tried to think.... "We fought some more, I was able to pick up my stake again and I killed her, I _freed_ her....I don't know what happened after that, I just remember making my way back here." He looked across to Oksana who studied his face a little longer and then without saying anything, she got up and walked back to the room where we were watching.

"He believes what he's saying, because that's what is in his mind. I saw a gap after he talked about her offer, for him to join her, and then it picked up just as he said. She compelled him; she planted a memory of him staking her and then sent him back here." I couldn't help but wonder why.....Alberta and Mom talked with Kirova about what to do next. Just then Dr Olendsky walked in and nodded to everyone in greeting.

"Guardian Hathaway, Guardian Belikov.... I'm glad you're back. I was wondering when you would both be able to come to the clinic. I have some results from the blood I took before you left and I'd like to talk to you both about what I found." I turned to look at Dimitri, knowing that we'd now find out if what Viktor had said was actually the truth.

"You can go now Rose," Said Kirova. "We have to do some planning here anyway. Come back when you're ready." I nodded and then we followed the doctor back to the clinic. We sat down in her office but I knew what she was going to say.

"Rose, you're DNA test came back fine, but there is something about the baby that I wanted to talk to you about... There's nothing wrong... per se, but it's something that has me a little stumped." Before she said anymore, I butted in.

"The baby's Moroi." I stated. Her forehead creased and she just stared at me in confusion.

"How...How did you...?"

"When Viktor had us, he heard the baby's heartbeat, so he knew I was pregnant, he told me that the baby was Moroi. I didn't really believe him until you came to get us just now. But there _is_ something else Dr Olendsky." I didn't like talking about this, but the cravings had got worse; I hadn't told anyone, even Dimitri, how bad the cravings were getting. "On the plane, there was an....incident....with some blood and I had a reaction to it, I wanted it. I wanted to drink it....I could smell it..." I closed my eyes in memory, "It smelled so sweet and I crave it....I think." I opened my eyes to see her shocked face, but she quickly recovered and went back to the 'doctor' face. Dimitri just looked at me.

"Okay.....um.... I might need to take some more blood, do a few more tests. The baby _is_ Moroi, like you said, and as a Dhampir has never carried a Moroi child before, this craving might be coming from the child, normally a Moroi fetus gets its blood from its mother when she feeds, but, as you don't feed....." I nodded thinking about what the ramifications could be if my child didn't get what it needed. She then looked to Dimitri. "Dimitri.... as you know, I took blood from you too. Your DNA test showed something." We looked at each other knowing that we were now going to get some answers. "As you both know, Dhampirs only _ever_ have 50% Moroi DNA and 50% Human DNA, you used to as well, but now your profile shows roughly 95% Moroi DNA." I watched a play of thoughts and emotions cross his face. "Nothing has ever been researched to see what changes take place after being turned, _physically_ we can see the changes but obviously the changes go deeper than that, right down to the most basic level, more than anyone could have imagined. The fact that you have more Moroi DNA now probably explains how your child was able to be conceived." He said nothing still, but I knew him well. I could see the turmoil that swirled in his mind and eyes. I needed to talk to him.

"Doctor, could we have a few minutes alone please?" I asked.

"Oh, yes....certainly. There are some things that I need to do anyway. Take all the time you need, but come see me when you're finished though, I need some more blood before you go." I nodded and watched her leave her office. I stood up from my chair and went and sat on Dimitri's lap. I put my hands on his face and looked into his eyes, waiting for him to speak.

"I'm alright Roza." He said. I sighed and shook my head.

"Yeah right, and I'm the Queen of Sheba. Dimitri, you forget something. From the moment I saw you, somehow I knew your thoughts and your feelings. Nothing's changed you know." He searched my eyes and reached up, tucking my hair behind my ears.

"It's just a lot to take in; I need time to think about it all, okay. At least we know now." He added. Then he gave me a _quick_ kiss, but I was not letting that happen. I bent forward and kissed him with a _lot_ more emotion.

"I love you Dimitri. I never thought it was possible, and I'd often laughed at people when they said this, but I love you more every day. No matter what, _that_ will never change." His expression didn't change, so I thought I'd take this from a different angle. "Dimitri, can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"I want you to think about this before you answer, alright?" he nodded but said nothing again. "If it had been me who'd been turned, and you were the one who had gone through hell and back to save my soul, would your feelings for me change because my DNA had been altered? Think about it." We looked at each other for a few seconds and then answered.

"Not at all."

"Then believe me when I say that nothing has changed." He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into a tight hug. He nestled his face into my neck, sending shivers down my spine. Suddenly I was on fire.... I let out a soft moan as he kissed my neck and I leant into him. I opened my eyes to see the need that was in me, was also in him. I smiled and then re-adjusted my seating position so that I now had a leg either side of him. These pregnancy hormones were going to get me into a lot of trouble one day.....

* * *

"What?" Dimitri asked me. I sat on his lap grinning like the Cheshire cat.

"Oh....I was just thinking how funny life is. It wasn't _all_ that long ago that I was barely able to get a kiss out of you, now we're doin' the 'Wild Thing' in the doctor's office!" I couldn't help but giggle, but he just shook his head with his seductive half smile I so love.

"Mmm, you are the only person I've ever met that I've _not_ been able to control myself around. You've intoxicated me from the moment I saw your face."

"Oh, you controlled yourself quite well don't worry..... I lost count of how many times I could've had my way with you if you'd only just let me...... Do you think they all suspect what we've been doing in here?" He couldn't help but laugh now, and I saw his cheeks blush ever so slightly...

"I guess we'll find out when we go outside, come on." I knew that he was still hiding his true feelings about what the doctor had said, but I had to let him talk about it when he was ready. Either the nurses were being very professional or our little afternoon delight went unnoticed. Dr Olendsky took more blood from Dimitri and me and she did another scan just to check on the baby after what had happened in France. As we walked outside, we bumped into Lissa and Christian.

"Hi guys," she said, "did you get some results?"

"Yeah, Viktor was telling the truth for once in his life, the baby is Moroi." I said.

"Do they know how that is even possible?"

"No, they don't." Said Dimitri rather abruptly. Lissa picked up on his tone.

"Ah no," I said, "They're still not sure. They've taken some more blood, so maybe they'll find something out later." I looked over to Christian and he was looking at me so intensely, I hated when he did that.... he always knew when I was covering something up. Lissa just nodded....

"Oh, by the way," she said with a smile... "What's up with Adrian?" I didn't know what she meant, the last time I saw Adrian he looked fine.... "He's walking around like a like a kid on Christmas morning.... I went to ask him about doing some more work with spirit and I could hardly get a sentence out of him." I smiled as I thought about what I'd seen between him and Viktoria, I wondered if things had gone a little further than just exchanged looks and innuendos. "_OH_! You know, don't you?"

"What! The last time I saw Adrian he was fine..... If you think something's going on, why don't you just ask him?" I said.

_Rose! I know you know something, and you also know that I'll keep trying to get past your blocks until I get the information I want. _I couldn't help but laugh, she was getting more and more like me every day!

_I know nothing Liss._... _dig all you like._

"You know how much I hate it when you guys do that, don't you." Said Christian.

"Yes, I do Sparky.... why do you think I love doing it so much! Anyway..... What are you two up to now?"

"Oh, we were just on our way to the feeders." Said Lissa, thinking about the feeders made my mouth water.....I had to change the subject...

"Oh, okay... well I feel like going for a run, so I'll let you guys go. See ya." I took a step forward and gave Lissa a kiss and hug, punched Christian and jogged off.... I left the three of them standing there, all with confused looks on their faces...

"Rose." Dimitri called from behind me. I was nearly at my old dorm when he caught up to me. "What's wrong? Why did you leave like that?" I debated if I should tell him the truth or keep up the 'going for a run' pretence.... I went with the second option.

"I need to run..... I still get a lot of emotions from Lissa that need to be worked out of my system, before helped a bit," I said with a grin, "But I just need to run, that's all...." I could see he didn't believe me, but he nodded anyway.

"Alright, but you know that your clothes are still in my room, don't you." I'd forgotten about that actually.

"Oh, yeah that's right. Lead the way Comrade."

"Rose.... will you stop calling me that please."

"I'll think about it." I said with a shrug of my shoulders.... I grabbed his hand and we walked back to his room where we both got changed into our workout clothes. "You know.... I'd really like to keep going with my training too."

"No." He said. I was about to ask why when he stopped me. "Because you're body's been through enough already, and I won't see you put yourself or our child at risk just for training."

"Dimitri, I want to train with you, and before you say no again, I know that when we train, you're holding back. I've seen you fight, full on fight.... so I know that you're careful when we're training. Plus, if _you_ won't train with me, I'll just find someone who will." I thought that would make him agree.

"Oh really. You want to make a bet on that?"

"Yes. Why?" and then it hit me....because he'd make sure that no-one would. I shook my head as I felt the anger rise up.... "You can be such an ass sometimes Dimitri. I'm not made out of glass you know." I spun around and ran out of the door, slamming it shut behind me. Hopefully he'd realise that I didn't want him to come with me. I kept running to the track and then once I got there, I just sped up. Coming around the far side of the track, I looked over to the tree line and noticed Adrian and Viktoria, she was up against a tree and he had his hands _on_ the tree, either side of her neck. They looked like they were having a deep conversation. Suddenly she smiled and looked over my way. Even this far away I could see her reaction to being sprung. She ducked out from under his arms and started to run to me. I looked at Adrian and with a wink; I gave him an approving smile.

"Rose..." said Vikki when she reached me. I didn't slow down so she kept running with me; it would do her good anyway.

"Vikki....... You look like you're having fun." I said trying to keep my face straight.

"Ah, yeah... Adrian and I are just....."

"Getting to know one another better?" Her eyes widened as she ran.... But then I smiled, I couldn't hold it in anymore. "Personally I think it's great." She stopped dead in her tracks which made me stop too.

"Really.... You're alright with us.....getting to know one another better?" she said quoting me.

"Yes Vikki, I do." I looked over to where Adrian stood leaning against the tree and I couldn't help but smirk. "Adrian is a very special person, I love him a lot; he deserves to have all the happiness in the world and I can't imagine anyone better than you to give it to him. After all, it takes someone pretty special to catch _his_ attention." We both giggled at that.

She'd wrapped her arms around my neck and said, "Don't tell Dimka please.....not yet. I don't think he likes Adrian all that much. I want to know him more _before_ my big brother tries to strong arm him." I laughed at that, yeah, Dimitri liked to strong arm lots of people. I stiffened a little and she pulled back to look at me, the anger was back and she saw the change in my face. "What's wrong, did I say something I shouldn't have?"

"No, it's not you Vikki. Your brother seems to think he can make _everyone_ do as he wishes. Anyway, I need to keep running, are you going to join me or is there somewhere else you'd rather be?" She smiled sheepishly and looked back to Adrian. His Moroi eyes must have seen the change in my face, even from that distance, as he looked like he was going to come see what my problem was.

"Ah, yeah......I think I have a different workout in mind."

"Nothing too strenuous I hope, otherwise I may have set your admirer straight." I watched her as she ran back to Adrian laughing. I hoped it would all work out for them as I thought they were good for each other. I turned around to start running again and saw Dimitri walking to the gym.


	13. The Bitch Named Spirit

**Thanks for all the wonderful reviews guys.... Here's the next chapter and I hope all my US friends had a great Thanksgiving. **

**Chapter Thirteen.**

**The Bitch Named Spirit**

I walked up to the gym doors wondering if I should go in or just keep running. I wanted to keep up with my training and if he kept his word and told everyone not to train with me, then it only left him. I pushed the doors open ready for an argument, but instead I came face to face with Tyler Mitchell. I glanced around slightly confused, I knew he came in here.

"Rose, I didn't know you were training today." He said. _Hmm, would he say no_ I thought to myself....?

"Yeah, I am.... Do you think you could last a few rounds?" He thought for a few seconds and then crouched down. I smiled and mirrored his position.

"And pray tell.....What makes you think I'm going to be the one losing this fight?" he said with a grin. I was _so_ going to wipe that smile off his face... The anger over Dimitri's refusal to train with me put me into the right frame of mind and I had a _LOT _to work out. His taunting only fuelled me more.

"Oh, I don't think you're going to lose Tyler.... I _know_ it!" Then he pounced. He flew into the air, legs poised for a kick, but I saw his hands curl into fists, so instead of trying to block either, I went for the third option, I went down. I dropped to the floor and came up behind him as he landed. He turned to face me but I was ready. I spun with my left foot leading, which found its mark on his jaw. Now it was my turn to charge. I came at him fists flying, my legs making themselves felt when needed. It was good to fight against someone new for a change, Tyler had different moves.

But just as I was getting into it, I felt a flood of extreme anger fill me. Suddenly there was nothing else near me other than my enemy. My moves became faster, stronger....deadlier. My fists hit their mark every time, I just kept hitting and hitting, over and over again, and then I felt like something had hold of me from behind. My head flung back and I heard a crunch, using the enemy in front of me as a wall, I launched myself up and over. My clenched fists smashing into their new target, I hit over and over until my arms were held tight again. I tried to use my legs but they too were being held. I heard a blood curdling scream, someone was in pain.....but I couldn't see anything, I just felt. I felt trapped, bound, chained, I had to fight..... Someone had my head; I knew what was coming.... I was going to be fed upon and then I was going to die.....or worse. I had to fight.... kick, punch, bite, anything, just fight! Then everything went black.

"Roza. Maya krasaveetsa, can you hear me?" I could hear his beautiful voice, so soft, so loving. I smiled and relaxed as I felt the words caress my skin. "Roza, open your eyes." Slowly the feeling of love started to be replaced by pain. Oh, my head! It felt like it was splitting in two, I reached up to squeeze the pain away but my hand touched my cheek, I yelled as pain shot through my face. I slowly opened my eyes but everything was blurry at first.

"Dimitri?" My voice cracked, I felt his hand on my face but as it touched my cheek, I flinched away in pain. "Ow!.... Holy _shit_....what in the hell happened? My head feels like it's going to explode."

"Look at me Roza." He said quietly. I squeezed my eyes shut and winced as the action hurt my cheek some more, and then opened them again, now I could see him better, his nose was bleeding, like it had been broken. "Do you remember anything?"

"Um, I followed you into the gym, but you weren't there. Matthews.....I was fighting Matthews." He looked over to his left and nodded. I turned to see who he was looking at and Adrian bent down beside me. "Adrian, what are you....?" He just smiled and then put his fingers to my sore cheek and closed his eyes. I felt the now _very _familiar feeling of hot and cold tingles that came from being healed. It wasn't long before my cheek and the pain in my head was gone. I slowly sat up and looked around. "Ah.....what's going on?" I asked in confusion.... I had an audience of Guardians, Moroi and Dhampirs whose faces showed varying degrees of horror and disbelief. _Shit, what did I do......? _Dimitri and Adrian both had worry etched into their faces, Vikki.....well she looked scared.

"Rose, you sort of went 'killer Rose' again." Adrian said. I shook my head trying to remember.

"What? Against who?" I didn't remember going psycho let alone _who_ I went psycho on....

"Mitchell." I looked at Dimitri's face....

"Is he alright?" He nodded.

"Yeah, Oksana is healing him now at the clinic." Just then I remembered the feeling of blackness coming into me as I fought Tyler, the sort of blackness that only comes from Lissa....

"Where's Lissa?" I asked looking around. A look went from Dimitri to Adrian and then back to me.... They didn't answer fast enough, so I slipped into her head. She was in a cell, being held from behind by Pavel as she screamed...... _a CELL! What in the hell....._ I came back to myself and looked to Dimitri. "Why is she in a cell?"

"Rose, she..." I jumped up and before anyone could grab hold of me, I took off in the direction of the cells. I could hear someone running behind me so I made my legs go faster. I slammed into the main doors of the building housing the jail, the guardians jumping in their skins.

"Where is she?" I yelled.

"Guardian Hathaway, settle down." Said the guard holding his hands out to me.

"Just tell me where she is. NOW!" Yuri was standing off to the side and happened to glance down one of the corridors, I don't think he even knew he'd done it, but I saw it. I took off down the corridor and it was only a few seconds more before I heard her scream again. I turned the corner and found her being held by Pavel just as I'd seen before.

"Rose!" he yelled. "Don't let her look at you. She's......compelling everyone that comes near her." He said struggling to keep his grip. What on earth was going on....? As I looked into her face, my heart dropped as I saw that the darkness had hold of her, more than _any_ other time. I turned to the right and saw Dimitri running down the corridor.

"Get ready for another round," I told him, "Hold me tight." Then I looked over to Pavel. "Bring her here and hold onto her, she might fall." He looked to Dimitri who was now standing behind me, gripping my shoulders with his hands. I saw Dimitri nod his head and Pavel bought her closer to the bars. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "Ready....?" I asked.

"I'm here Rose." Whispered Dimitri in my ear.

"Remember, she needs to heal me afterwards." I reached out to Lissa, to take the darkness of spirit away from her. It was like a tidal wave that washed over me, it crashed into my chest like someone had just hit me with a baseball bat. My body fell back against Dimitri as I struggled to breathe, the need to kill something returned with a vengeance and I started thrashing against whatever was restraining me, then I felt it.... a tingle of hot and then cold and then hot again.... The crushing of my chest lightened and I could breathe again, the desire to fight was nearly gone and my heart started to steady itself. I opened my eyes to see Lissa's tear stained face looking back at me.

"I'm so sorry Rose. I couldn't stop it." She whispered. I was so tired, I felt like I'd just fought 100 strigoi all by myself.

"What did you do Liss? What did you do?"

"I'm sick of being the prey Rose. I'm sick of being hunted and seeing you get hurt while protecting me. I went to see Guardian Tanner, to get to the truth. I had know, I had to find out where she was. You're always putting yourself out there in harm's way; I wanted to find her for you. But I saw what was in his mind, what he'd done, and I snapped. I couldn't stop....." Tears flowed down her cheeks as she looked away in shame.

"It's alright Liss. Look at me." I whispered. _I don't blame you for any of this. I know you it's not your fault that I take the darkness from you; I don't and never have, blamed you. We are sisters, we have a bond that not many understand, but that's okay, I like what we have. _

_But Rose, look at what it does to you. I did what I did to help you, to save you from being hurt again, and all along, it's me who hurts you the most. _I shook my head, seeing in her thoughts, what she'd done to Tanner.

"No" I said aloud. "No you don't."

_Yes I do. _She looked down at my hands and then back at my face. _What happened? Why are you hands all cut up like that? Rose! Tell me or I'll ask Dimitri._

I looked down at my hands for the first time and saw the mess I'd made of them. Adrian had only healed my cheek; he hadn't got to my hands yet. The skin was torn over my knuckles and they were swollen and bloodied. I couldn't lie my way out of this.... _I was training with Matthews when I was flooded with the shadows. I sort of went ballistic again. _Her mouth dropped open as she sighed.

"Is he alright?" She asked.

"Yeah, Oksana was healing him at the clinic. She'll be finished by now I'd say." Dimitri had released his grip on my shoulders now and just held me. I looked at him and asked, "Can we all talk about this back in the dorms?"

"I'll have to ask, are you alright here?" he said.

"Yeah, we're fine now." I wondered why he'd have to ask; surely they couldn't want Lissa to stay in the cell. He punched some numbers in his phone as he walked away and spoke to someone. I looked back to Lissa and held her hands. "Is Tanner okay?" I asked her.

She went to say something and then stopped. She looked back to Pavel and he nodded. "Looks like it. I was so angry Rose, I couldn't see straight."

"Yeah, I know... neither could I." Just then Dimitri walked up to us, nodded to Pavel and held out a hand to help me up. Pavel then helped Lissa up as well.

"Come on, Kirova wants to see us all." Oh, this didn't sound good. We walked outside to go to Kirova's office and was surprised to see everyone there waiting for us. Mom walked up and touched my neck, the way she was looking at it, I gathered there were bruises there.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"I am now. Do you know how Mitchell is?" She smiled and nodded to me.

"He's fine. He wants a rematch, said you didn't fight fair." My mouth hung open at that so Mom continued. "He said that you only won because of the extra power boost of spirit." I shook my head, we Dhampirs really are a crazy bunch of people....we really do live for the fight.

"Yeah, well...._that_ won't happen anytime soon." I saw Dimitri look at me as I said that and noted that his broken nose had been healed. Christian was running towards us, he looked so worried. As he took Lissa's hands, I said to him, "We've been asked to go see Kirova, Christian." He nodded to me and then we walked forward to give them a little privacy.

"What did you mean by that just then Rose?" Dimitri said. I stopped walking and looked up into his beautiful deep brown eyes.

"I'm sorry. For what I said before, I should have controlled myself better than that." Then he bent down and kissed me.

"You didn't answer my question my love." He said against my lips.

"I meant that there won't be a rematch. With him or anyone else, for a number of reasons." He pulled his head back a bit and raised one eyebrow and a slow half grin appeared on his beautiful face.

"Really? Not even with me?" I couldn't believe he'd said that.....I bit my bottom lip as I thought of what I was going to say.

"I'm sure I could be persuaded......if you asked nicely enough." He laughed under his breath bringing a smile to his face that made his eyes light up.

"I'm afraid 'nicely' won't be exactly how I'll ask." I nearly forgot where I was, the playfulness I'd been feeling was replaced by another emotion..... I would have thought he'd worked out by now, not to speak to me like this unless we were somewhere more....private.

"Hey, you two......" someone said beside us. "Wait 'till _after_ you've seen Kirova to start looking at each other like that." I tore my eyes away from Dimitri's to see Christian smiling face. Lissa was beside him with a slight blush to her cheeks.

_My God Rose..... _She said_, you could boil water with one of those looks..... Should I stay close by to heal Dimitri later on.....?_

I smiled at her and looked back to Dimitri..... "That might not be a bad idea Liss." His one brow raised again, looking for clarification. "Liss just wanted to know if she needed to be on hand later in case you needed to be healed again." I didn't need to see her face to know how embarrassed she was. The three of us all laughed as she yelled silently at me....


	14. Opening up

**Hi Again, Sorry this isn't a big chapter, and it's a little bit soppy.... but things needed to be said for the story... I'll update again soon, I promise...**

**Chapter Fourteen.**

**Opening up.**

We reached the office foyer and the receptionist told us to go straight in. We were read the riot act as I knew we would be. We'd come in after the others, and apparently she'd already asked Adrian, Alberta & Vikki what they'd seen in the gym. After we'd sat down she wanted a step by step account from me about what had happened, as I was about to tell her, Lissa stepped up and told her that I'd lost control because of her using spirit against Guardian Tanner. That's when Kirova wanted to hear about why Lissa did, what she did.

"I needed to know what he knew. I'm sick of this target on my back, of _constantly_ putting the lives of everyone I love in danger because of it. For just this once, I wanted to help myself." Everyone here knew exactly what she meant. Being Moroi meant that she was expected to have others, like me, protect her. Kirova kept her eyes on Lissa as she spoke.

"I understand how you feel Princess, and I know your desire to feel like you can look after yourself."

"That's not the only thing Headmistress." She interrupted. "I'm constantly putting Rose's life in danger. She's constantly hurt physically _and_ by the side effects of spirit. _That_ is something that the majority of Guardians never have to deal with, and I'm sorry, but _none_ of you know what that is like......apart from Mark here." Kirova looked at me and then over to Mark who just stared back.

Kirova continued, "Yes...but that _is_ the life of a Guardian Princess and well, maybe I don't know what Rose deals with completely, but...."

"Headmistress." I said. "You don't have to worry about me losing the plot again; I won't put myself in that situation anymore. I've come to realise that the effects of spirit are hard enough to control at the best of times, let alone adding a few pregnancy hormones with it." She seemed satisfied with my statement.

"Well, that's good to hear Guardian Hathaway, but it doesn't matter much anyway. Former Guardian Tanner is being transferred to Court today. They will figure out how to deal with him and the Queen is expecting you all to follow within 24 hours." She nodded and went back to her paper work, obviously finished with us. I was about to say something when I saw the look in Lissa's eyes. _Don't say anything Rose. This could be a good thing._ I looked up to Adrian and Vikki who hadn't taken their eyes off me. Something looked different about Vikki though, I looked down remembering the look I'd seen on her face after the fight in the gym. I was going to have to talk to her about it soon.

We walked back up to Dimitri's room after the meeting and I could tell that he was still distant. "Do you want to talk?" I asked him as I closed the door behind myself. He gave me a slightly confused look. "About what the doctor said."

"No, not really. It won't change anything." He said sadly.

"It might..... It might change how you're feeling. And don't tell me you're fine Comrade. I know you." I walked up to him and pushed him down at the end of the bed and I put myself between his legs. I pulled his hair out of its bonds and ran my hands through it and I looked deep into his eyes. "You're wondering who and what you are now; if you're still the same Dimitri as you were before. You're thinking that because you are now nearly all Moroi in DNA, that you're somehow not the same man you used to be." I saw the momentary confirmation of what I'd said flash across his face and I smiled. But at the same time I got a little panicky as I thought about the distance I'd felt from since speaking with the doctor. "Promise me something." He didn't say anything, which further raised my worries. "Please....."

"If I can." _Now_ I was worried and I drew in a slight breathe.

"Don't leave me again." I whispered. I don't think he thought I'd say that as his face was suddenly shocked.

"What makes you think I'd ever _leave_ you Roza?" he said. He reached up and put his hand on my face as I shrugged my shoulders.

"You've just been.....distant since we spoke to the doctor, and you know I have an uncanny way of picking up on your feelings." He just looked into my eyes and said nothing, neither did I, I wanted his reassurance that leaving would never be an option for him. I was starting to get a little worried that I wasn't going to get that conformation when he finally spoke.

"Rose, no matter what happens from this moment on; I will _never_ leave you again. What is going on with me at the moment is just something that I have to reconcile within myself; I've done it before, I'll do it again. It doesn't change my feeling for you." I bit my bottom lip as I thought about what I wanted to say next.

"What do you mean 'you've done it before'?"

"When you brought me back, I had to reconcile myself with what I'd done when I was turned. I remember _everything_ that I did." There was a lot of pain in his eyes at the moment, and I didn't know how to fix it. "Things I am yet to forgive myself for. Having you here with me.....has been my lifeline Roza." _His lifeline......_

"As you are mine." I whispered. I needed to know what happened back at the gym, so I asked. "Dimitri, I followed you into the gym, but you were gone, where did you go?"

"I went in to do some practice, I saw you running with Viktoria and I didn't want to disturb you, but when I went inside and found _Mitchell_ there......" Something about how he said 'Mitchell' got my attention. "It sort of put me off. I just said that I needed something out of the office and went out the back way. I stood outside for a while, thinking...and then I saw Alberta running to the front side of the gym as well as some other novices who I had seen previously on the track. I came back inside and saw....you......doing your thing, on him." There was a slight smile on his lips. I expected him to be upset, especially after he said that he didn't want me training, amusement was one expression I didn't expect to see.

"Don't you like Mitchell?" I asked him. He looked down and rested his head against my chest while letting out a soft sigh.

"Not particularly. I don't like how he looks at you." I couldn't help smile.....the famous badass Russian God is jealous. He looked up and saw I was smiling.... "What?" he asked.

"Nothing. Thank you." I whispered.

"What for?"

"For being jealous." He raised his eyebrows as if to ask why I would think that was a good thing, so I elaborated for him. "Because as long as you're jealous, it means you still want me around. I know that's stupid considering everything we've gone through lately; I guess it just unnerves me that _you_ can feel so lost. I've always felt that you were _my_ rock, someone who would always be there when I felt like crumbling, never judging me. You're the only person in my entire life that has never expected anything from me, other than for me to be myself......and who I felt was stronger than me, in every way that counts. To see you so unsure scares me a bit." He took my left hand and brought it too his lips, after the kiss he suddenly looked up at me and gave the slightest smile.

"Marry me Roza." My heart skipped a beat as I smiled.

"Dimitri....I've already said yes. And if you haven't noticed" I said putting my hand on my stomach, "We're bound together forever whether you _like_ it or not."

"Oh, I like it," he said still smiling, "but that's not what I meant....I meant...marry me now." Looking into his eyes I could see he meant every word. "I don't want to wait anymore. I want you to share my bed every night as my wife, to feel our child kick for the first time, to watch him or her grow."

"When?" I asked him. A huge smile spread across his face.

"Whenever you want Roza. Just say the word." My heart did back flips at the thought of seeing him in that tux again, but this time he'd be waiting for me.

_Oh! I'm sorry Rose....._Said Lissa in my head. _Shit Rose! Is this what it's like when you look through my eyes? Ah...Rose, how do I get out?_

I was a bit shocked at first that Lissa was obviously now able to see through my eyes. She hadn't been able to do that before, only Oksana could do that.... Ah....the joys of strong emotions! _I can't believe you're in my head. Hang on...._ I said to her silently.

"Lissa is in my head." I explained to Dimitri who was giving me a funny look. "I guess I got a little emotional just now and drew her in." He smiled at my explanation. As I looked at him, I spoke to Lissa....._ You have to __pull__ yourself out Liss......remember, strong emotions will pull you in.... I love you Liss, but please leave....._

_Why? What's got you so worked up Rose? Oh.....! Well, I see.... and what's your answer?_

_I guess I'll let you know after I answer my fiancé. _

_Don't worry.....I'll find out anyway. _I couldn't help but let out a little giggle. Just then Dimitri mouthed the words... 'Hurry up," but I don't think he realised that she was actually looking through my eyes. _Oh, fine....I'm going, tell him to keep his pants on, bye.... _Then I took his face in my hands and bent down to kiss him, as I did this, he fell backwards pulling me down beside him. We laid like that for ages, just looking at each other; there was no need for words. I knew what he was feeling and he knew that, but we _both_ knew that we'd talk about it more when he was ready. Tomorrow we'd be going back to Court, to start our new lives and to work out what we were going to do with Tanner.


	15. Making Memories

**Hi Everyone, I'm finally updating... I hope you like this one, it was fun to write... Don't forget to Review, you all know how much I love your emails... Christina, Did you send 3 or 4 emails before? There seemed to be something missing between the first and second email I got. (I only got 3)... **

**Chapter Fifteen.**

**Making Memories**

Adrian's Point of View.

She makes out that she's not that interested, but I know better. On the plane, she told me about what happened between her and Rose in Baia. How she was going to be with some Moroi named Ronan and then Rose made the deal with her father and all of her plans came crashing down. But she didn't plan on being a guardian then, Rose and her 'mission' changed all of that. Thinking back to that conversation made me smile.....

"_So, you were going to go all the way with him then?" I asked. She looked a little embarrassed, but not enough to blush. _

"_I'm not 100% sure really, I went there with the intention of......being with him. But I'll never know if would have chickened out or not."_

"_What makes you think that you would have left that club in the same condition you arrived in? He was Moroi and by the sounds of it, he had you in his sights," I gave a quick glance down her body; her very alluring body...."I don't think you would have had a choice in the end." She looked a little confused; like she didn't even consider that he could have compelled her into doing whatever he wanted her to do. _

"_What do you mean by that?" she said, her confusion changing into the beginnings of anger._

"_Did you not consider that even if you changed your mind, that he may not have __let__ you change your mind?" Then as she thought about it, real anger passed over her face narrowing her beautiful brown eyes. _

"_He could have tried, but he would have failed." She was so determined that that is how it would have turned out. I looked at her and wondered if I should....._

"_Are you sure about that? What makes you think that he couldn't have? Are you immune to compulsion?"_

"_I don't know about immune, but I would have been strong enough to stop him." She had such resolve on her face now, that I couldn't help but smile. She had to know her limitations, before she found out the hard way. So I bent forward slowly and spoke._

"_I want you to kiss me Viktoria." I whispered to her, I was strong in compulsion so I didn't have to put too much effort into this at all. She sat there for a few seconds and tilted her head to the side. Slowly she leant forward; she was only an inch away from my face when I said, "Stop. I want you to say that you want me." I whispered again._

"_I want you." She whispered. I smiled and let the compulsion go. She blinked furiously trying to work out what had just happened. Realising how close she was to me, she jerked back into her seat. "What did you just do?" she said angrily._

"_Nothing. I __could __have though; that was whole point." She was fuming, angry that I'd compelled her, angry that she had no control, no power over her own actions. "Don't be angry at me Vikki. I wanted you to know how easy it is for Moroi to make you do things that you may not want to do. I would never put you into that position, but others would." She was still angry but I knew that logic was winning out in her mind, she knew I was right. But I knew she would never admit it either; just like someone else I know. _

"_You're an ass Ivashkov, do you know that? No wonder you haven't got a girl friend yet." I almost laughed, but somehow I was able to keep it in. She stood up and glared at me. "And here I thought you were a decent Moroi. I should have known that such a thing goes against nature. You're no better than my father." She pushed past me and walked towards the back of the plane._

_Shit! I went a little far that time. Now I was going to have to win her over......I smiled at the possibilities. Every now and then, I'd lean into the aisle and look back to where she was sitting. I couldn't help but giggle as I saw her face; she just kept getting madder and madder..... After about the tenth time of looking back, she finally couldn't take it anymore. I heard her stomping back to me and as she reached me I looked up with a grin. "You know you'll forgive me." I said._

_Her mouth dropped open in disbelief and then she clenched it shut. I could almost see the steam coming out of her ears; I tried not to picture that as I really would have burst into laughter. "You are the most obnoxious, self righteous, pompous, arrogant, egotistical.......URGGHH!"_

"_True.... You wanna try and change me? I might let you, you know." She never stopped glaring at me, and as much as I wanted to apologize for my actions, I was just having way too much fun to stop. "Come and sit back down......you know you want to." She just kept staring and then shook her head slowly in anger. "Would you come and sit back down if I apologised?" I asked with a smirk._

_She stared for a few seconds more and then tilted her head to the side as she raised an eyebrow. Okay... she was waiting for an apology. "I'm sorry for using compulsion on you. I should never have done it and I'm sorry for hurting your feelings. I apologise Vikki." Then she relaxed...._

"_Thank you." She said haughtily, and then walked back to where she was sitting before. I laughed under my breath and shook my head. Yup....definitely going to have to work hard to get her. A short time later I got up and went to the small kitchenette at the front of the plane. I knew that there were chocolates up there as I'd seen them there on our way to France. _

"_Can I help you Lord Ivashkov?" asked the stewardess._

"_Yes, do you still have the chocolates on board?"_

"_Yes we do, would you like some?"_

"_Is it just the one size or do you have larger boxes?" I asked._

"_Ah, no...." she said opening up the cupboard. "We have these too. Is this what you're after?" She pulled out a large box, a good twelve inches square, and one I could definitely see Vikki finishing off. _

_I smiled as the picture went through my mind. "That will do just fine. Do you have a pen?" She handed me a blue pen and on the inside of the box, separating the lid from the chocolates was a sheet of paper. On it, I wrote:_

_Sweet Viktoria  
Please come back to me..... I'm lonely!_

_I couldn't help but giggle as I wrote the note, then putting it back in the box, I shut the lid back up and asked the stewardess to give it to Vikki in about five minutes. Then I went back out and walked to my seat. Before I sat down, I looked up and found myself staring into her deep brown eyes. I smiled to before turning around and sitting down. A few minutes later the stewardess walked down the aisle with the box of chocolates. I waited, but she didn't come. Hgh.... looks like I'll have to think of something when we land. I looked to my right to look out the window, but it was dark, so there was nothing really to see, just then she pushed past my legs to come sit beside me again._

"_Seeing as you asked so nicely, I thought I'd grace you with my presence. But don't think you're getting any of these..." she said lifting the box of chocolates in the air._

"_Wouldn't dream of it." I smiled._

After we landed, Kirova took Rose and the others to where Guardian Tanner was being held. I said that I would get Vikki back to her dorm. Rose gave a very sly smile as she nodded and Dimitri.....well, he just glared at me. We got back to the Dhampir dorms, I'd made sure she was back safe so I said goodbye and turned to leave.

"Aren't you going to see that I get to my room safely Ivashkov?" she said with a smirk.

"What, do you think you'll get accosted in-between here and your room?" Her smirk grew to reach her eyes.

"Well, you never know." She shrugged as she held her hands out to her sides and looked down at her own body. "Someone may like what they see and try to take it." I couldn't help but give a short laugh under my breath.

"Oh, I doubt very much that anyone could just _take_ what you didn't want them to have Vikki."

"Mmm, but then again, there are those who seem reluctant to take it even when it _is_ offered. I'll see you later Adrian." She stood there looking at me for a minute more and then went to walk away. _Grab it Adrian! _I thought to myself. I walked in through the doors and came up behind her. I came up close to whisper a witty reply in her ear, but thought was stopped mid track as the scent from her skin and hair flooded my nose. I quickly composed myself.

"But then what sort of man would I be if I didn't make sure you got to your room safely." She stopped walking but didn't turn around; she just turned her head; our faces only an inch apart, and smiled to me as she spoke.

"Mmm, what sort of man indeed." She said. Luckily there was no guardian at the front desk. It wasn't very often that this happened, but as it was still dark outside, the students that were still here would be in class. I watched her as she walked to the stairs and realised that all I wanted was to follow. She unlocked her door as I got there and walked in but I stood at the door looking in. I hadn't been here before but the room was much the same as Rose's had been; only Vikki had a small sofa. "You can come in you know Adrian, _I _don't bite."

"Oh! A joke I _haven't_ heard before, clever!" I said sarcastically, she just giggled. I went and sat down as Vikki went to her drawers and took out some clothes.

"I just want to go change, I'll be back soon." She said as she walked to the door. She opened it and went to leave but before she disappeared, she turned and asked, "You'll still be here when I get back?" I smiled.

"Yes, I'll still be here." She nodded and hurried off. I got up and walked to the window and saw Rose & Dimitri walking to the clinic with Dr Olendsky. She was probably getting some results from the tests they did before they left. I turned away and walked over to her bedside table where she had a photo of herself with her family back in Baia. I knew her mother and grandmother, but I hadn't seen her two sisters yet. The eldest one was _very_ much like the big Russian pain in my ass. All four siblings had the same eyes and tall stature. The little boy in the picture, obviously a son of one of the sisters, looked like a younger version of his uncle, _poor kid_, I thought to myself. Other than the photo, there wasn't anything else here that was personal to Vikki, either she didn't have anything else or didn't want anything else. I may have to find out which was true.

Just then I heard the door handle turn behind me. "I didn't think you'd be able to resist." She said, I smiled as I turned around but my breath caught. She was standing there in denim jeans and a very fitting black t-shirt that hugged her in all the right places. She'd put her hair up in a ponytail; I knew in the sun.....the gold streaks in it would shine like glitter, but at the moment she looked amazing. "Hgh! Who would have thought that you'd ever be lost for words Ivashkov?" I shook my head and took a deep breath. I couldn't let her get that one in....

"Well, not lost for words as such, I just thought you'd change into something.....a little.....comfier." She turned to look at me with a wry smile.

"Yeah, I'm sure you did. I thought I might go out for a walk later seeing as I don't have classes today. It's getting chilly outside now, so I thought this was rather appropriate."

"Mmm, well, now that I've made sure that you're here, safe and sound, I might go get changed myself." She just nodded but said nothing. "So, I might see you later on, when you go for your walk."

"Maybe. If you're lucky." I couldn't help but laugh. She was definitely someone I could fall for. _Damn! She really is someone who I could fall for.... _I thought. I walked to the door and turned the handle and as I turned to say goodbye, I found myself staring into her deep brown eyes. She'd very silently got herself inches away from me. Man, she was fast.....another family trait. "Goodbye Adrian." She said with a smile. I couldn't say anything, I was lost in her eyes, I reached up and took her face in my hands and smiled as I shook my head.

"No, not goodbye. Remember.... I'll see you later." I said and then bent forward to kiss her. My heart pounded in my chest and my pulse rang in my ears as she pulled herself closer to me wrapping her arms around my neck. The kiss was amazing, I couldn't think of anything else other than her mouth, her taste, her scent that filled my senses. We broke apart and the look on her face probably mirrored my own. I don't think either one of us was prepared for feelings that came with a simple kiss. I really wanted to stay and...... I closed my eyes briefly as I collected myself and then smiled at her.

"You're making it very hard to leave." I said rather breathlessly, my voice sounded a bit funny in my ears. She nodded but didn't look like she was going to let go of my neck. "Would you rather me stay?" She looked like she had to think about that question and then opened her mouth to say something but closed it again and smiled as she let go of my neck.

"I'll see you later." She said backing into her room. I nodded and turned to go back to my building. I heard the door shut as I walked down the corridor to the stairs and I found myself grinning from ear to ear. I was lost in my own little world thinking about what had just happened, _and_ my reaction to it. I'd only ever felt that kind of.....electricity with one other person. I never thought I'd feel it for anyone else, but I did. Over the last couple of months that I known her, she'd amused me, exasperated me, made my pulse race and eventually occupied a large amount of my waking mind. _Hmm, I may have to visit her later on, see what she thinks. _


	16. Getting To Know You

**You guys are just the BEST!!! 23 reviews..!! Woo Hoo... hehehe Because you were all so nice and reviewed like crazy... I thought I'd give you another chapter early. This one is a little short, but I hope you all enjoy it anyway. Thanks again for all of your reviews. They mean so much! LOL....**

**Chapter Sixteen**

**Getting To Know You....**

"Adrian...." I looked up to see Lissa and Christian staring at me.

"What?"

"Where were you just now? I've said you're name like ten times." She said. I just smiled and again my mind wandered off thinking about what had just happened upstairs. "Earth calling Adrian.... I _was_ going to ask you to do some more work with spirit, but somehow I don't think you'd be able to concentrate. What's going on with you?"

I just kept smiling.... I probably looked ridiculous, but I couldn't help it. "Um....nothing really.... um." Then I remembered I had to go get changed and then find Vikki. She was going for a walk, but didn't tell me where. "Ah, cousin....I'll talk to you....later." Then walked off leaving them where they were.

"Well, I see he's back to his charming self." I heard Christian say from behind me, but I just kept walking. After quickly getting changed, I went looking for her. I was surprised that I found her so quickly, but then again, she didn't look like she was _trying_ to hide. She was standing at the tree line near the training track just staring into space, thinking about something. Then she smiled and closed her eyes as she leant her head back against the tree. I decided to sneak up behind her, see if I could catch her unaware.

"Is that smile for me?" I whispered at her ear. She didn't jump in surprise, so I don't know if she'd heard me or not. She didn't move at all really, but the smile got bigger. I walked around in front of her and put my hands either side of her neck on the tree. As she opened her eyes, I said, "I thought I'd have to walk around for ages finding you, but here you are, not hiding at all."

"Was I supposed to hide?" she said.

"Could have been fun." I said with a shrug. "That was really nice before." I could hear her heart beat faster as I said that and it made me smile. Her aura glowed with a multitude of colors, blue, purple, pink and with an ever increasing amount of red. She swallowed softly as she spoke.

"Yeah, it wasn't bad." She said trying not to sound too interested. I had to hold in the laugh. _She's not going to give an inch Ivashkov, _I thought to myself.

"Oh! Is that right. So are you saying that I need to work on it?"

"Wouldn't hurt." Just then she looked to the track and then glanced back at me. "I'll be right back." And then she ducked under my arms. I turned to see where she was going and saw Rose running, she didn't look very happy at all. I'm fairly sure she'd picked up on this 'thing' with Vikki in France, but I didn't know how she really felt, then she smiled and winked at me. _Well then, that answers that question! _I thought. They kept running as they talked and I really wished I could hear what was being said. All of a sudden Vikki stopped running; Rose didn't realise at first, but then stopped and went back to her. They kept talking and then Rose looked back to me with a smirk on her face, she said something which caused them both to laugh, and then Vikki wrapped her arms around Rose's neck. After Vikki replied, Rose smiled, but it didn't last long, I saw her face and body stiffen and saw anger flow into her. _What did Vikki say that could have brought about that sort of change? _I thought. They spoke a little more and I was about to walk over to see what had happened when Vikki looked over to me with a smile. Then Rose spoke a little louder as Vikki ran back to me.

"Nothing too strenuous I hope, otherwise I may have set your admirer straight." She glanced at me still angry but with a smile then she turned around and started running again.

"What was all that about?" I asked her when she reached me.

"Nothing much. Apparently, you're a 'very special person' who deserves to have all the happiness in the world." I glanced over to Rose who was now going into the gym.

"Oh really, she said that?" Vikki nodded. "Looked like she got a little angry about something."

"Yeah, I think my brother may be the reason for that. She got angry when I mentioned his name." _Hgh, I didn't think the 'brooding Russian God' could do anything wrong in Rose's eyes. _

"And what are you going to do that's strenuous enough to have me 'set straight'?" She smiled as she leant back against the tree.

"This." She said as she grabbed me by the shirt and pulled me into the trees. We hadn't gone far when she turned around and kissed me while wrapping her arms around my neck again. Again I lost myself in the moment and had to work hard not to go too far. It was a few more minutes when we heard yelling from towards the gym. We looked back to see students and guardians running in the same direction. "I wonder what's going on? It looks serious." She said. I nodded and we ran to see what was going on. We pushed our way through the students and went in through the gym doors, we saw Rose going ballistic and then she let out the most horrific scream, Dimitri and three other guardians were trying with every bit of strength they had to hold onto her, blood all over them. I looked to the mats and saw the new guardian, Matthews, unconscious, but Stan Alto was already lifting him up to take him to the clinic.

"Roza.....maya krasaveetsa, can you hear me?" Said Dimitri. She was still thrashing but she started to relax as he spoke to her. "Roza, open your eyes." He said, and with this she stopped, then her face creased as if in pain as she touched it. She had a nasty gash on her cheek bone and the bruise was already quite bad, so it was probably fractured.

Her eyes fluttered open a bit as she realised who had her. He touched her face which made her wince in pain. "Ow.... Holy _shit!_....what in the hell happened? My head feels like it's going to explode." She said as only she could.

"Look at me Roza," he said. She tried to squeeze her eyes shut but the action obviously hurt her quite a bit. "Do you remember anything?" he asked her.

"Um, I followed you into the gym, but you weren't there. Matthews.....I was fighting Matthews." He turned and nodded as he looked up at me, I walked over and squatted down beside them, I reached out to her and put my fingers on her cheek as I closed my eyes. I'd got a lot better at healing and it really didn't take as much effort now, plus these sorts of injuries were easy to fix. Once finished she sat up.

"Ah.....what's going on?" she asked confused. She looked around seeing all the people who had gathered and then her face dropped; I followed her line of sight and saw Vikki's face. I don't know what emotion I'd say it showed; fear....horror.... maybe a bit of both.

"Ah, you sort of went 'killer Rose' again." I said looking back to her.

"What? Against who?" She said.

"Mitchell." Said Dimitri. She just stared at him in disbelief.

"Is he alright?" she asked him full of concern.

"Yeah, Oksana is healing him now at the clinic." He said. I'd obviously missed the part where she'd been called. I wondered why Lissa wouldn't do it. Then Rose looked like she'd remembered something.

"Where's Lissa?" She yelled. Dimitri looked back to me but before he could say anything, she slipped away to Lissa. It wasn't long before she was back and she looked angry again. "Why is she in a cell?" She asked Dimitri. _A cell....? _I thought.

"Rose, she..." he started to say, but she jumped up and took off out of the gym, with Dimitri in hot pursuit. What in the hell was going on? Why in the hell was Lissa in a cell? And why in the hell would no-one tell me what's going on!!! I got up and went to Vikki who looked like she wanted to cry but couldn't.

"Are you alright?" I asked her. Her eyes looked so sad.

"Not really. What happened to her? Why did she do that?" I knew the answers she was after, but they would have to wait.

"I'll tell you everything as soon as I can, I promise." She was scared what was happening to Rose, she loved her so much. I reached up and put my hand on her cheek. "She'll be okay. We need to follow them, see what else is going on. Do you want to come?" She thought about it quickly and then nodded. I took her by the hand and we ran out of the gym following the other guardians. We got to the building that housed the holding cells, but weren't allowed in. I could hear screaming and yelling from inside.

"Is that Rose?"

"And Lissa by the sounds of it." It grew quiet and I got a little concerned. I knew from what I heard, Lissa was probably in the grip of spirit; I didn't know what could have enraged her in such a short time. It wasn't all that long ago that I'd seen her with Christian. If that was the case, then only Rose could calm her down, only she had the ability to take that black rage from Lissa. Then I realised what had happened in the gym, the darkness from Lissa went to Rose while she was fighting. I didn't know how it would affect her after the fight, what would it do to the baby? Just then Alberta came outside.

"Lord Ivashkov," she said with a slight bow of her head. "Miss Belikov. I'm glad to have found you, Headmistress Kirova asked me to escort you both to her office at once. She has been informed that you were witness to what happened in the gym just before and she'd like your side of the event."

"But we need to see if Rose is alright." Said Vikki.

"She's fine." Said Alberta. "They'll be out shortly and then they'll join us in the Headmistress's office. If you wouldn't mind....." she said holding her arm out in the direction of the offices, I gathered that was the end of the discussion. I nodded, best to get it over with I suppose.

"Come on Vikki. We'll see them soon."

**Remember.... I love your reviews... so press the little green button... LOL! **


	17. To Court A New Home

**Okay... Well seeing as you are all such WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL people and reviewed like crazy.... I thought I'd put up another chapter... This one is a little larger this time. I know the last chapter may have seemed a little slower.... but just remember..... I only put things in when they need to be... LOL ;-D There will always be a reason something is said at any particular time... hehehehe**

**Happy reading!!**

**Chapter Seventeen.**

**To Court A New Home....**

I started to wake and I rolled over and reached out to find the other side of the bed empty. I opened my eyes to darkness. "Dimitri?" I called. No answer.... _I wonder where he went so early...._ I thought to myself. I yawned and stretched and my hands found their way to the little bump in my belly. "Where's your daddy gone baby?" I said aloud. I got up and walked over to the bathroom in his room. It was at times like this that I really appreciated having a toilet so close. I decided that now was a good time to shower as I didn't think we had too long before we were due to leave for Court and our new lives. It was kind of exciting really; apart from what I knew was waiting for us when we got there. I stripped off and got in; the water was just divine as it gently massaged my skin. I could just stay here all day. I closed my eyes and leant my head backwards and let the water ran down over my head, drowning out everything around me for a few minutes. It was so peaceful under here.... and I couldn't help but smile.... I didn't know when I'd get another 'me' moment like this. I took a step out from under the water and opened my eyes to find myself staring into the smiling face of the man I loved; who only inches away from me.

"You're awake." He said. Looking at Dimitri's body at any time made my heart skip a beat, but looking at his body naked.....well, let's just say he didn't need the gift of compulsion to make me do whatever he wanted. "Do you know how beautiful you are?" he whispered as he bent down to kiss me.

"Do you know how dangerous it is to sneak into the shower of someone who has a habit of going psycho?" His smile grew. "Especially with no....protection." I said raising my eyebrows and looking halfway down his body.

"Oh, I think I could take you on.....besides, I'm not as breakable as you may think." He was in a playful mood this morning. While keeping his eyes to mine, I lifted my hand forward and touched the line of hair reaching up to his belly button. Then I slowly traced my fingers up his body, only just making contact with his skin. His face changed from playful to lustful almost instantly; he put his hands on my hips as I moved closer to him. I ran my fingers up his back as I kissed his chest and he let out a soft moan.

"Well," I said hitting his butt and stepping back from him, "I've finished my shower, you want to have one now or shall I turn the water off?" His eyebrow shot up deviously...

"Oh, you're not finished yet my Roza. Nowhere near it." He said. I couldn't help but laugh as he lifted me up off my feet. Things heated up a lot from there, especially after I wrapped my legs around his waist. We finally finished our 'shower' a little while later, I must say though, I rather enjoy _those_ showers. After drying each other off, which by the way came with its own benefits, we went out to his room to get dressed. No matter how much I knew his body, I continually found myself mesmerised and drawn to him like a magnet to metal. Even now, I can't remember what my life was like before I knew he existed. I just sat on the end of the bed looking at him.

"Where were you this morning?" I finally asked him. "I woke up and you weren't here. I don't really like it when I wake up to an empty bed." He just grinned at me.

"I went to your old room. To pack...." he added seeing my confusion. "You still had stuff over there, and I didn't think you wanted to leave it here." He got up from his chair and walked over to the counter in his small kitchenette. "I didn't think you'd want to leave these behind either." He gave me a small wooden box that I hadn't seen before, so I was a bit confused as to what I'd left there. I opened it up to see my father's Nazar, the silver ring that Oksana had given me in Russia and the gold amulet given to me by his mother that helped me bring Dimitri back to me. The engraved bracelet of Yeva's mothers, and Lissa's chotki were still on my wrists. I touched the necklace with my finger remembering that day with the utmost clarity. The fear that it wouldn't get him back; the fear that I could lose someone else that I cared about in the process of trying, that I would have to stake him for the third time if it all went horribly wrong. All those horrible emotions and fears, yet it was the best day of my life, it was the day I got him back. "Roza? Did you not want these back?" I looked up at him, not realising my eyes were brimming with unshed tears. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." I said shaking my head. "They just bring back a lot of memories, it was a....a big day." He bent down in front of me and wiped the tears that had finally fallen.

"I remember." He said, and then he gently took the box from my hands and closed it up. I had wanted to talk more about that day with him, what he would have done, that sort of thing and I still didn't know if I should.... "I can give the amulet back to my mother if...."

"No....." I interrupted, "No....These things...if it weren't for them I wouldn't have you, here now." I looked into his eyes as I placed a hand over my stomach. "I wouldn't have this precious child growing in me. Even with all the bad stuff that came with that day, it was the best day of my life and if I had to do it all over again.....I would in heartbeat."

"What did I ever do to deserve you?" He said. I couldn't help but smile as an answer came to me....

"Just lucky I guess....." He laughed softly and shook his head.

"That's for sure." He stood up and held out a hand. "Come on, we have things to do before we leave, and we're running out of time." I stood up and he kissed me. As we walked to the door, someone knocked. Guardians were there to pack up the room and send everything to the plane along with the stuff he'd already got from my old room. We walked down to the office to officially sign out of the Academy. All the paperwork was there waiting, it just had to be signed. I swear Kirova had watery eyes.....

"Life at the Academy just won't be the same without _you_ here Rosemarie." She said.

"That's true. But just think.....you'll have all this experience for when this little one here is ready to train." I said holding my hand on my stomach. She raised her eyebrows and sighed.

"I can hardly wait." She said sarcastically, but with a half smile. "I wish you both the best and that you get to the bottom of what happened in France. It's always been a concern of mine that Sonya was a strigoi, I thought I found a bit of peace when Mikhail said that he'd freed her, but since finding out that that wasn't the case.... She deserves to be freed, to be at peace." She said looking at me. I knew what she was saying, and I really wanted to be the one to do that for both Sonya and Kirova, but I had a baby to think about now and I wouldn't risk that for anyone. So I just nodded in understanding. Just as we left her office, we ran into Alberta and Stan in the hall.

"I hope you come to Court and visit us." I said to Alberta. "You've been such a wonderful friend, and mentor to me; I know I'm going to miss our talks."

"That would be wonderful." She said. "I will definitely come when I'm able." I looked over to Stan and smiled.

"Don't look at me." He said while trying to stop the smile that wanted to come out. "I'm glad to see the back end of you Hathaway. Next year I might at least get some peace and quiet."

"Yeah, I suppose. After all, what's more fitting than a boring life for a boring man...." His face didn't change for a second, and I thought that he didn't take it all that well until he started to laugh. "If ever you feel the need for a little more excitement....you know where I'll be." I said with a wink. I can't believe I just winked at Stan Alto..... _Eewww!_

After leaving there we went to see how Olena and Yeva were going. They were coming with us to Court, but they would be continuing on to JFK. They, along with Oksana and Mark, were going back home. They only stayed for graduation and were going to go after that, but with everything that happened; this was their first chance to leave. I was going to miss them all so much, especially Oksana. We'd become so close over the last few months, she was like the big sister I never had. It was going to be hard to say goodbye to her when the time came.

We knocked at their door and were greeted by Vikki. "Hi Sis," She said wrapping an arm around my neck. "Dimka...." she added and grabbed his neck with her other arm, bringing our three heads together.

"Ow! Vikki, this isn't all that comfortable you know..." I whined...

"Sorry... Mama & Babushka will be back shortly, they just went to Oksana's room. Will you wait?"

"Yes, we have some news." Said Dimitri. We only had enough time to go into the small kitchen to get a drink, when they came back.

"Dimka.... You're here." Said Olena.

"Hello Mama." He bent down and kissed both of her cheeks, and then he greeted Yeva in the same way. After I said my hellos, Dimitri led us to the sofas.

"Mama, we need to tell you something." She nodded and waited for him to continue. "You know that before we left for France, the doctor took some blood from both Rose and I and did some tests to see how we were able to conceive. Well, they found the reason. When I was changed," I watched the faces of the three women beside us and they all flinched at the memory. "well...I was changed at the DNA level. Where I was once only 50% Moroi, I'm now more, I'm about 95% now and the doctor suspects that the extra Moroi DNA that I've gained, is what has allowed for our child to be conceived." He stopped talking and watched his mothers face intently. Just then I saw just how much Dimitri & Vikki were like their mother. She did the same thing that they do; sits quietly and mulls things over. I smiled as I wondered if my child would inherit the same trait.

"Well then, it just goes to show.....God works in mysterious ways doesn't he." And then almost as though she knew what he was feeling at the moment, and it wouldn't surprise me really, she touched on the one subject that he needed help with. She put a hand on his cheek and said, "Dimitri, it doesn't matter what that DNA test said, you are _still_ my son, every bit as much as before. You are still the same man in every way that counts, don't ever forget that. This has been a blessing," She said. That shocked me actually, I couldn't see how..... Then she put her hand on my stomach and I smiled. "As horrible a thing; you being changed was, it has given you the blessing of this child." I could no longer keep the tears at bay and I looked up to see a tear roll down Dimitri's cheek too, but most of all, I saw a kind of peace go over his face. His mother's acceptance and words had healed a part of him that I couldn't.

"So," said Vikki. "Moroi hey..? That means that one day, I should be able to kick your as..."

"Don't finish that word Viktoria." Interrupted Olena.... We all had a bit of a laugh and Vikki nodded to me as I met her eyes. She was such a wonderful sister; I still couldn't believe how lucky I was to have found this family. Not only did I get to spend my life with my own personal Russian God, but I got three wonderful sisters, another mum and an annoying Grandmother too.... What more could a girl need!

"Roza." Said Yeva. "I had a dream.... There's one who holds the answers to it all, Rose... She is unaware of her puppeteer; she will try to steer you into the waiting arms of death." Well that sent shivers up my spine..... Where in the hell did _that_ come from?

"Babushka..." yelled Dimitri in shock. I put my hand on his arm and shook my head. If I'd learned anything at all, I'd learned to heed Yeva's dreams.

"It's alright..." I said to him. "Do you know her name?" I asked her. She seemed happy that I trusted her.

"No.... all I get is a river going through a valley of the same name. Welsh....." Now I was confused. How was that going to help me? We stayed and talked a little longer but had to meet Lissa for another check up at the clinic. Liss only had a few weeks left and she was getting rather large, even for two! And everyone was still concerned for her after what happened in France. As we walked to the door I turned and spoke to Olena.

"I was wondering if you could postpone your flight back to Russia for a few days." I got confused looks from everyone, even Dimitri. I looked up to him and then back to his mother, "Well we want to make it official. When we get to Court, your son & I are going to get married." We all squinted and covered our ears at the sound of Vikki's squealing... I've never heard anything so loud come out of her mouth, and that's saying something. Olena was just as excited but was able to contain it a little better than her daughter. After we were plastered in kisses and hugs and promised that they would stay for the ceremony, we left to go to the clinic.

As I walked with my arm around his waist, I looked up to see him beaming... He looked down at me and stopped walking. "You don't know how happy I am at the moment."

"Oh, I think I do.... Probably as happy as I am." He lifted me off the ground and kissed me so softly.

"I love you Roza, with every beat of my heart."

"I love you too."

We then walked to our appointment. Scans were done and everything was good to go, so we all made our way to the plane. We walked in and found a seat and I must admit that I was a little nervous about our new lives, confused by Yeva's dream and a little excited about shouting to the world that I was his and he was mine.

"So Rose..." said Lissa. "Ready for nap time?"

"Yup.... Will you visit?" I asked her.

"I'd like that..." We talked a little more while we waited for everything to be loaded. Just before takeoff, Liss and I went to sleep... It didn't take her long before she was with me. I looked around and saw that we were on the Portland campus grounds, sitting on one of the stone benches near the fountain. "So... Did you get any answers from the doctor?" she asked me.

"Yeah, we did." I knew by her reaction beside me she saw what happened.

"Wow.... He's nearly all Moroi... Wow! I never saw that one coming..."

"Don't say anything to anyone. He needs time to work this all out for himself before anyone finds out. That includes Christian."

"Of course Rose. It will never leave my lips. How are you handling it all?" she asked.

"I'm fine. We now know how this little one was made possible...." She nodded and looked at me funny, like she wanted to ask more but didn't know if she should. "What?" I asked.

"So, when are you getting married?" she asked with a smile. She was good at changing subjects.

"Are you telling me you don't already know?"

"No, I don't.... I didn't try to see."

"Well thank you.... It's nice to know that I still have a secret or two... In the next day or two, when we get the opportunity. I've asked Olena, Yeva and the others to stay for the wedding, but they'll have to leave soon." She nodded as she was looking at her hands.

"Well, I'll have to get to work then won't I?" She said with a wink.

"Thanks Liss." We continued to walk and the campus morphed into a beach; I looked over to her and smiled. She knew how much I love it when we came here, both in real life and in the dreams. For the remainder of the flight we stayed there on the beach, walking, talking.....sitting in the warmth of the sun.... It was divine. But it ended all too soon.

"Time to go Rose. I can hear Christian calling me, we've obviously landed." Then the dream started to fade and for the second time today, I woke up in the arms of the man I love.


	18. Well, That's Interesting

**Well... Here's the next chapter.... I rather like this one and the next one... :-D Hopefully you all will too. BTW, thank you all so very much for your reviews.... They are fantastic! You all know how much I love reading them, and I know I thank you all, but I really do appreciate it. It's what keeps me writing... The chapters will start to pick up pace from now on, all the little clues have been put into the story now, so onward and upwards I say!!!! hehehe**

**Don't forget to review! Thanks again guys.**

**Chapter Eighteen.**

**Well, That's Interesting....**

"Welcome back, have a nice dream?" he said with a smile.

"I did. But I like this view better." I sat up and stretched and then followed Dimitri from the plane. There were a few SUV's waiting to take us to the apartment buildings and one of the drivers informed us that the queen has requested a meeting with us in 24 hours. The cars pulled up to a different building than we'd previously stayed in and we went to the reception desk to get the keys to our rooms. Our apartment was right beside Lissa and Christians and had an adjoining door; after all, we were their guardians. On the other side of us was Vikki, Olena & Yeva's apartment and in a few days she would have it for herself. Adrian's private apartment was on the other side of the hall to all of ours, but up the very end of the wing, the entrance however was at the end of the hall. Apparently, he'd requested that we all be assigned the rooms on his wing. Mom & Dad would be joining us in a few days for the wedding and then they would go to Dad's new house.....or should I say castle.

_Hey there Rose...... _Lissa was in my head again... I _knew_ there was a good reason I didn't want her to learn how to do this....

_Hi Liss, what are you doing in my head again?_

_I wanted to see what your room was like. Pan around and let me see. _Hmph! If she thinks she can pop in whenever she wants, she's got another thing coming! So...I shut my eyes.

"_No._.._Get out of my head! Remember how you used to hate it when I came into your head.... well...._

_Oh, Come on Rose. You've been doing this to me for more than three years now, let me have a little fun. _She wanted fun hey...... I thought to myself... I'll give her fun; though it might not be the fun she was after.... I opened my eyes just enough that I could see where I was going and that I wouldn't bump into anything and I walked to where Dimitri was standing. As I got to him, I opened my eyes and looked up at him...

_Want to know what I consider fun Liss?_

"What?" asked Dimitri slightly confused. I smiled and mouthed 'kiss me' to him. I knew my thoughts would betray me, but I didn't know how fast she could get herself out.... He smiled and closed the distance between us. It didn't take long for the thought of Lissa being in my head, to be forgotten.

_Rose! That's not funny.... You know it's hard to get out when your emotions hold me here... _I smiled as I kissed my man....

_Well, get out._... _before you really see more than you wish to... _I couldn't help but laugh and Dimitri pulled back with one eyebrow up wondering what on earth I was laughing about.

_Are you still here Liss?_

_No, I'm not.... That wasn't funny Rose. You're so mean. _I giggled again and put up some more mental barriers. Hopefully she wouldn't slip in again.

"I'm sorry..." I said to Dimitri. "Liss can do something else besides talk to me in my head now."

"What can she do?"

"She can go into my head like I do to her. She can see through my eyes now." I don't think he liked that idea by the look on his face. "The first time it happened was last night when you asked me to marry you again. Anyway, changing subjects....what are we going to do today?"

"I thought we could go see if we can use the church tomorrow." He said.

"I'd like that a lot." I bit my bottom lip as I picturing myself walking down the aisle; looking into his eyes, ready to start our lives as one.

"What are you thinking about Roza?"

"A lot actually; where I was 3 years ago, to where I am now. I thought the only name change I would ever have, would be when everyone put the word 'guardian' in front of Hathaway. Not only did that happen, but I have you _and_ I'm having a baby. Sometimes I think I'm going to wake up and find that this was all just one big dream, and none of it has actually happened."

"I know. I've often had the same thought." He said. I wrapped my arms around his waist and breathed in the scent of his aftershave. As I put my head against his chest, I listened to the steady beat of his heart. That sound was the most wonderful sound in the world.

"Gees, you're hot Dimitri." I said. He softly giggled...

"Thank you..." he said as I looked up at him and smiled.

"Yeah well, you _are_ hot, but at the moment I'm actually talking about your temperature. Are you feeling alright? You feel like you have a fever." I reached up and felt his forehead and he really did feel quite hot. "I think you should go see the doctor here and get checked out."

"I'm fine Rose. I don't feel sick and I promise that as soon as I do, I'll go to the doctor." I narrowed my eyes wondering if I should press the point, but then I wondered if it had anything to do with 'the new him' and thought better of making a big deal of it. I remembered him feeling hot at different times since I got him back, but then he'd cool down and he never got sick.....

"Alright, just promise me that you'll tell me if you get worse."

"I promise. Now, can we go to the church?" He asked.

"Lead the way Hot Stuff!" He rolled his eyes and shook his head as he took my hand and led me out the door. I thought it was rather funny.....apparently he didn't see the irony!

* * *

Adrian's Point Of View.

"So, are you going to show me around when we get there?" Vikki asked from beside me.

"If you'd like me to." She narrowed her eyes at me and very slightly shook her head. "What?" I asked.

"That's not what I asked Adrian. A simple yes or no would have sufficed you know. I'd hate to put you out of your way." I leant forward so that I was only inches from her face and stared deep into her beautiful eyes.

"Put your claws away my little Koshka. Be careful what you wish for, you may get more than you bargained." I said playfully. She smiled at my new nickname for her. Obviously she liked being compared to a cat! Well, after all, she was super quick, affectionate but feisty, playful too, but most endearing of all…..she was just that little bit wild; just how I like them. After the plane landed we were taken to the apartment buildings; I'd wanted to keep everyone together, otherwise we could have ended up all over Court, so I requested that we all be assigned to the apartments that were on my wing. I'd lived there for a few years before going to St Vladimir's and I'd stay there whenever I came back to visit. We all took the lift up to the top floor; it was a private floor, so we knew that we'd be the only ones coming up here. Everyone found their apartments and as the guardians were bringing up our luggage, I went to make sure everyone was happy with their rooms.

"Everything all right here?" I asked the Belikovs from the door. I glanced over to Vikki who was walking around the room checking everything out. She looked like a kid on Christmas morning….

"Yes, thank you Lord Ivashkov." Said Olena.

"Please, call me Adrian. I don't go much for the Lord rubbish…" I said with a smile. She nodded yes, but I don't think she was all that comfortable with doing as I asked. The ladies went about taking their things into the bedrooms so I went over to Vikki. "So, like what you see?" She looked at me under her brows….

"Yeah, the apartment's great, so is Court, what I've seen of it anyway." She looked back out of the balcony window.

"Nothing else?"

Without looking back to me, she just shrugged her shoulders and replied… "Well, I haven't seen my room yet, so I'll have to answer you later on." She glanced around with a smile.

"Hmm, well….I was going to go for a walk, maybe go visit my great aunt." I watched to see if there was any reaction from her, but there wasn't.

"Oh, okay. Well I guess I'll see you later then." _She remembered_…… I thought.

"You could come with me if you'd like." I laughed as she scrunched up her nose and shook her head. "Why not?"

"You should visit your aunt privately. Plus I'm sure she doesn't want to meet me. You go, I'm sure I'll see you soon."

I nodded to her and then thought of something. "How about I meet you at the café downstairs in an hour? I'll buy you a coffee." Then she smiled one of those amazing smiles.

"That sounds good, I'd like that. An hour then…?" I nodded to her just as her mother came back into the room. I said my goodbyes and walked out to see my aunt. As I was leaving the room, Rose and Dimitri came out of their apartment.

"Hi Adrian." Said Rose, Dimitri just nodded. Rose looked to the door that I just came out of and then back to me in question. "Can't find your room?"

"Oh, very funny Little Dhampir. No, I was making sure everything was alright with the apartment for Dimitri's mom. Where are you two off to?"

"Just making some plans." Said Dimitri rather abruptly. I knew he didn't like me all that much and he tolerated me before for the sake of Rose, but now…..he didn't hide his dislike for me all that much as before. I didn't know how he would react if he knew I was after his sister, probably not all that well. Ah well…. He'll have to deal with it. Rose looked up at him but didn't clarify.

"Okay….. Well, I'm off to visit the queen…." I smiled slightly as the thought of three blind mice popped into my head. "Have a good evening." I said, and then I left for my visit.

I walked up to the guardian at the main door and nodded to him. "Is she in?" I asked him.

"Yes Lord Ivashkov. You're early; I'll let her know you're here."

"No need," I said as I pushed the doors open myself, "I'll let her know myself." He looked like he was going to stop me, but it was too late, I was already in....

"Adrian!" My aunt said. "Nice to see you're still your charming self."

"Always Aunt Tatiana. People would think there was something wrong with me if I started behaving myself now..." I said with a wink. She stood up as I walked over to her and kissed both cheeks. I saw that she had her normal four guardians and Priscilla was hovering as usual, but I was rather surprised to see the male Dhampir at the back of the room. I remember Rose saying that she had herself a lover. "Who's the toy?" I whispered with a smile.

"His name is Ambrose and he's _not_ a toy." She looked a little cranky.... and Aunt Tatiana isn't a nice lady when she's cranky.

"Well, good for you Aunt." I said. That seemed to calm her a bit....

"Mmm. So, are you here to stay this time or will you be going back to the Academy?"

"No, I'm staying." Vikki's face popped into my mind so I added a bit.... "I'll probably go back for visits though.... I made some good friends while there."

"Oh really? Anyone I know?" She was fishing, but I'm not about to let that happen.

"No.... I doubt it." I stayed there for a little while longer chatting about nothing in particular and just as I was about to say that I need to get going, she informed me that she had a meeting that she needed to get to. Apparently from what she said, it was to do with guardian Tanner. I knew better than to ask as I knew she wouldn't tell me, but I'd find out tomorrow at the meeting. I wasn't exactly invited, but we both knew that I'd be there anyway. I kissed her goodbye and then went to meet Vikki.

I got to the cafe but Vikki wasn't there yet so I grabbed a table and sat down to wait. I was there for about five minutes when she turned up. "Don't tell me you run late for everything too." I asked her.

"Oh, am I late? Hgh! Well, will you look at that..." she said sarcastically looking at her watch with a smile. "So, what's good here?" We ordered some caramel Cappuccino's and I bought her a Black Forest cheesecake, which she loved.... It was good to just sit and talk to her in such a relaxed setting. I watched her as she spoke, how she laughed....and how she teased. She really was fascinating, I wondered how I hadn't seen this before now...... _Oh yeah.....I know why... _I thought. We finished our coffees and decided to go for the walk we'd planned on taking. We were walking into the park when I grabbed her by her arm.

"Do you really want to see where this could go?" I asked her seriously.

"Yes, I do." I looked into her eyes to see if she had any hesitation, but there was none. Then I took her face into my hands and kissed her softly. Again she put her arms around my neck and kissed me back. My mind was swimming.....

"WHAT IN THE _HELL_!!!" Came this booming voice beside us.... We broke apart to see the face of one scary, pissed off, badass Russian brother. _Oh Crap! Now I've done it... _I thought....


	19. Oh No You Don't

**Hi Everyone.... Well, finally after a rather busy weekend, I'm updating for you all.... Hopefully I can get some more writing done and not fall behind. I hope you all enjoy this chapter, so don't forget to review.... Thanks everyone.**

**Chapter Nineteen**

**Oh No You Don't.**

Dimitri's Point Of View.

"Well, would tomorrow morning be too soon?" I asked the priest.

"No, that's fine by me. You don't need more time?" he asked.

"NO!" we both said together. The priest looked at us and laughed softly to himself.

"Well then, no need to ask if this is something that you both agree on. I guess we'll meet back here in the morning then. What about..... 6pm? Sunset is at five..." he said looking at his pocket watch.

"That would be great. Thank you Father." I said. Neither one of us were overly religious, but we'd both seen enough lately to believe in a higher power and an afterlife, so we thought we'd do this the right way. We walked out of the church and went to go get something to eat. It was only a few more hours before the sun would be up and we had a big day tomorrow. We had been walking arm in arm for about ten minutes when we found ourselves in the Court Park. It was a really peaceful place here, somewhere I could see myself 'getting away from it all'. I felt Rose's pace change and looked down to see she was talking to Lissa again. I didn't mind the chats so much, but this new thing....seeing through Roza's eyes..... _That could be a problem.....in certain situations,_ I thought with a smile.

"She wants us to hurry up." She said when she realised I was looking at her. "Apparently, I have dresses to try on." I laughed as she rolled her eyes. This was one part of her that I admired the most. As much as she liked shopping, liked the dresses and shoes and makeup, it wasn't a priority to her like most females her age. She could have graced any magazine in the world, but she still liked the simple things in life. She was Rose, the one and only, and she was all mine.

"Well, let's not keep her too long then, shall we." We walked a little further into the park; the cafe at the bottom of our building was on the other side. "What do you want to eat my love?" I asked.

"Mmm, Oh....Lasagne.... A really big slice of Lasagne...." She always made me smile... I think her eating even put mine to shame. Rose certainly had a healthy appetite, especially now she is pregnant. We turned around a large rock garden that I knew was opposite the cafe, and I looked up to see my little sister....with _him_! I stopped dead in my tracks.....anger spiked in my chest at seeing his hands on my _sister_! They were....._KISSING_!!!

"**WHAT IN THE **_**HELL**_!!!" I yelled. My heart started pumping and my blood boiled. All I could feel was such a burning hate for this.......womanising _Royal_ Moroi _**pig**_.... My hands started shaking.... Rose jumped in front of me, her hands on my chest, but I couldn't take my eyes of Adrian.... I wanted to _kill_ him. "Get...your...hands...off...her........ _NOW_!" I growled at him. For the first time ever I saw actual fear in his eyes, _Good....about bloody time!_ I thought. "I can't _believe_ you...first Rose.....now Vikki.... _**I'm gonna kill you!!!**_

"_**Dimitri!**_" yelled Rose. "_Don't..."_ I couldn't stop, I was so angry. Then Vikki walked in between Rose and Adrian.... that just made it worse! That mongrel had the two women I loved most protecting him from what he deserved. Now they both had their hands on my chest.

"Don't you dare defend him Vikki." I said through clenched teeth.

"Dimitri! What's wrong with you? Stop this...." I could hear Vikki yelling at me, but my attention was securely fixed on the Moroi scum standing in front of me.

"And if you know what's good for you Ivashkov, you'll stay the _hell_ away from me and my family.... _vy __ponimayete meniya__?__"_ I yelled at him, and by the look on his face, he most certainly did understand me. I reached out with my right hand, pointing at him to get my message across loud and clear when all of a sudden flames shot out from him hand. _What the F....! _I yelled at myself as I stared at my outstretched hand. I didn't look at Ivashkov directly, but I could see him jumping out of the way. Rose and Vikki both screamed and ducked away from the heat and flames. I swallowed hard, not knowing what in the hell was going on..... _**Shit!!! **_I heard in the background.

"_Dimitri!_" I heard Rose yell at me. She grabbed my face and turned me to face her. "Calm down.... Look at me. Please....calm down. Look into my eyes, I love you." I finally let the breath out of my lungs that I had been holding. I was panting, not sure what had just happened.... I looked down at my hand, _no burns_....????

"What.....what in the hell was that?" I said in almost a whisper. She looked up at me with scared eyes. Not scared of me, but scared of what was going on. I felt a little giddy and seeing this, Rose made me sit down. I was vaguely aware of Vikki telling Adrian to go, but I thought it was best not to think about what I'd just seen. I brought my knees up and rested my head on them and tried to control my breathing. I tried to make sense of what was happening when they started talking.

"What was _that_ Rose?" Asked Vikki. "How could he _do_ that....Is he alright?"

"I think so." She said to her. "As to '_how'_ he could do that, well....I think we may have an answer to your sudden changes in body temperature Dimitri. Your body burned the hottest I've ever felt just then and now it's cooled down." Vikki and I both looked up at her at the same time.

"What? What are you talking about? Dimka?" She looked at me with worried eyes.

"Can I tell you later dorogaya moya....Zaftra?"

She nodded. "Alright, tomorrow then. But Dimka, I need to know, everyone keeps telling me that they'll 'tell me later' about what's going on, and no-one ever does. Promise me.....both of you."

"We will Vikki." Rose said looking at me. Then Rose pushed my legs down and then sat on my lap. "Are you alright?" she asked, I looked into her eyes and could see how worried she was about me. I nodded and took a deep breath.

"I'm alright now. Thank you for calming me down." I smiled at the realisation that we were both good at calming each other down. The memory of the first time I'd calmed her down filled my head. "Seems like another talent we share." She smiled and bit her lip as she had the same memory.

"Mmm, though this time it didn't end nearly as enjoyably..." I smiled at the thought. Then I remembered how I got into this state. I looked over to my sister sitting beside me.

"Can you please explain to me, what on God's green earth you were doing.....with _him_?" I growled at her. Rose was about to say something but I gave her a look to tell her to stay out of this and then I looked back at my fidgeting sister beside me.

"Dimka..."

"Don't Dimka me Viktoria. First of all, you are _way_ too young for this type of relationship...." I saw her open her mouth to say something but I pushed on. I knew what she was going to say anyway, but I hadn't finished. "And second.... _Ivashkov!!!... _Seriously Viktoria, of all the guys in this world, I find you with...._him_!"

"Dimitri. Calm down." I looked back to Rose and saw her 'guardian face' was on. I was obviously getting worked up again and she was now ready to put me in my place if I went any further. I took a deep breath and looked back at my sister.

"Why him?" I asked in a calmer voice.

"I could ask you the same thing.....Why Rose?" she asked me. I hated it when she got all 'wise and mature' on me. "Dimka, no-one chooses who they fall in love with..." _Fall in love with...? _I grimaced as she said that, obviously I'm just finding this out at the end.... "I have real feelings for him and I want to see what could come of them. Please Dimka..." I hated it when she did that. I never could deny her when she pleaded like that.

I took another calming breath.... "Fine. But don't expect me to like it...or him." She let a half smile creep across her face and then kissed my cheek.

"You don't _need_ to like him.... _I_ do. I only need _you_ to trust me."

"Take it slow Vikki, you know what I mean. Don't give me any reason to hunt him down and finish what I started here." Then Rose punched me in the chest.

"Don't you dare." She said grinning. Vikki then stood up and said that she needed to see if _he_ was alright. I bit my tongue and let her go and then looked back into Roza's smiling, deep brown eyes. "I always knew you were hot, but...." she was giving me a rather seductive look. Though I couldn't imagine why.... by all rights, she should be scared, shocked, disgusted...any of those would be apt. I looked down not wanting to see if any of those feelings came into her eyes. "Only joking Comrade."

"I'm really _not_ the same...am I?" She put her hand under my chin and lifted my face up to look at her. "I thought I could ignore it, go on as though I really was the same person, but I can't, because I'm not."

"No....You're not." She said honestly. I always knew that she would be honest with me. "You're more, you are exactly what you were before....but with a few accessories...." I raised my eyebrows in disbelief... did she really just say that? She smiled, trying to hold in a giggle, but seeing my face decided not to continue the joke. "When I lost you....my world stopped. Then when I came to find you.....that took what little soul I had left. But then I learnt about Robert and then I became aware that I'd failed in my mission and there was the chance I could get you back. I would have moved hell and earth if I had to....it came close, but....you're here and my world is moving again. I can't even imagine what it must be like for you. I know you're feeling lost, unsure of yourself....but promise me that we'll work this out together, always."

"Always." I said. Then she leant forward and kissed me. She pulled back and winced... "What's wrong?" I asked her. She shook her head in frustration....

"Lissa...and I'm still hungry." I pulled her into my chest and buried my face into her soft hair. Her scent always made me feel better; I could just breathe it in and lose myself. I pulled myself out of her embrace and looked up to see Robert standing in front of me.

"Mr Doru. I didn't know you were here."


	20. Oh! Crap!

**Chapter Twenty**

**Oh! Crap!**

Adrian's Point Of View.

Yup, Crap was a fairly good expression for what I felt seeing the look on his face... other words popped into my head too, but I was after all, trying to be a gentleman... His face was bright red with fury, and it was all directed at me. _Lucky me! _The veins popped in his neck and forehead and then his hands started to shake, he looked like he was literally going to explode. "Get...your...hands...off...her........ NOW!" He growled at me barely keeping control. I'd never seen or heard him so angry before, so enraged...it was the first time that I ever really feared a guardian, any guardian. I was about to say something but Rose beat me to it....

"Dimitri! Don't..." she yelled at him.... It didn't seem to be doing anything and then Vikki put herself in front of me too. I tried to grab her away, I didn't want her in the firing line if he went troppo, but she was too quick. Both her and Rose were pushing against his chest as he pushed towards me still with an almost blood lust in his eyes, I must admit for a moment, I actually wondered if there were any traces of strigoi still there somewhere.

"If you know what's good for you Ivashkov, you'll stay the hell away from me and my family.... _vy __ponimayete meniya__?__"_ he warned me. Russian wasn't my first language or second for that matter, but I was still fluent in it, and yes I understood him loud and clear. But in that second, I realised that I wasn't going to let him strong arm me into not seeing Vikki again, my feelings were too strong for her now to let go.... If this had happened a couple of weeks ago, I may have backed off, but not now. He had reached his right hand over Vikki's shoulder to point at me as he spoke and then all of a sudden, all hell broke loose. Flames shot out of his hand at me... _**Shit!!! **_ I yelled; I dived out of the way only just avoiding the flames... that was a little too close for comfort. _Bloody hell... how on earth....? _Both girls screamed in shock and I quickly glanced over to see if they were alright.

"_**Dimitri!**_" yelled Rose again. She grabbed his face, turning him away from me, "Calm down.... Look at me. Please calm down. Just look into my eyes....I love you." She said in a soft voice. He calmed down and started breathing. He looked down at his hands, looking them over. I don't know if he was looking in disbelief or to see if he was burnt.

"What.....what in the hell was that?" he said. I really would like an answer to that as well... How in the hell is a Dhampir able to control fire...? But then, how could Dhampir's have kids together.... Only Moroi can do those things... _No... That's not possible....is it? _I thought to myself, _he's Dhampir.... isn't he?_ Rose made him sit down as he looked a little giddy and I went over to Vikki. She looked at me with such a confused look, I just wanted to hold her, comfort her, but she shook her head.

"Not yet." She mouthed to me, and then she glanced back at her brother and then came over to me. "Come visit me later, when he's asleep..." she whispered. "Go, I'll talk to you soon." She then said aloud. I nodded and walked away, I didn't really want to, but I didn't think he'd harm either one of the girls. I started to walk back to the apartments, but I only got half way there, I couldn't go any further; not without knowing if she was okay, so I went back. I could hear the conversation long before I got there.... it was a very quiet night... especially with my hearing.

"Can you please explain to me, what on God's green earth you were doing with..._him_?"

"Dimka..."

"Don't Dimka me Viktoria. First of all, you are way too young for this type of relationship...." _Hypocrite_, I thought.... "And second.... _Ivashkov!!!... _ Seriously Viktoria, of all the guys in this world, I find you with...._him_!"

"Dimitri. Calm down." I heard Rose say... Nothing more was said for a bit, but then he started to talk in a calmer voice.

"Why him?"

"I could ask you the same thing.....Why Rose?" I heard her ask. "Dimka, no-one chooses who they fall in love with..." I stopped in my tracks. _Did I really hear her right? _"I have _real_ feelings for him and I want to see what could come of this. Please Dimka..." I smiled as I turned the corner and saw her sitting beside Dimitri. Her face was so sincere, so full of love for her brother; she desperately wanted his approval.

"Fine. But don't expect me to like it...or him."

"You don't _need_ to like him.... _I_ do. I only need _you_ to trust me." I smiled and then went back to my apartment. While I waited, I contemplated if I should ask her about what was said in the park, but she said those things thinking I had already gone. I didn't have to wait long before there was a knock at my door. But when I opened the door, I looked into deeply troubled eyes, and all those thoughts vanished. I held out my arms to her and she crashed into my chest; her voice hitching as she spoke.

"What's happening to everyone I love?" she asked. "First Rose goes 'super guardian', and now Dimka goes.....I don't know," she looked up to my eyes like she was going to say something and then stopped herself, instead she shook her head.

"Come on," I said leading her to the sofas. "I guess I have some explaining to do." She followed behind me and then sat down. She listened intently as I explained the whole shadow-kissed thing to her and how Rose took the dark energy from Lissa, and how it affected her. The balancing act they walked.....even my own balancing act with the bottle and cigarettes. I explained everything in detail and watched her as she processed it all in silence. Then she said something that I wasn't expecting her to.

"Dimka's Moroi now, well nearly all Moroi. The tests they did before they went to France came back and showed that his DNA has been changed to nearly all Moroi." This thought actually went through my mind before, in the park, but it was so...._out there_, I had dismissed it completely. "But don't let on that I've told you, he's having a bit of a hard time dealing with it, with _everything_ that's happened since he was turned."

"No. I won't let on that I know. Thank you for telling me."

"I'm so sorry."

"What for?" I asked incredulously.

"For nearly getting you killed, by my brother. I shouldn't have..."

"No." I interrupted. "Don't be sorry, I'm not." She looked at me like she was seeing if I was telling the truth. "He would've had to find out sooner or later. At least this way, we don't have to be so....cloak and dagger about it." She smiled.

"Even after all that, you still want to...." I put my finger on her lips and nodded my head. Then I kissed her. I shouldn't have, my emotions were a little.....elevated at the moment. I should have had more restraint. The kiss was slow at first, then Vikki moved forward, deepening it....I leaned back but that just made her come closer to me. I didn't realise how far back I was leaning until I couldn't help but fall backwards on the sofa. She didn't stop either....I opened my eyes as we stopped kissing to catch our breaths and looked up to see her face framed by her beautiful hair. My heart and breath was racing as I tried to get the strength to stop, but my hands reached up and cupped her face. Then she laid against my body and kissed me deeply.....in that instant, every thought I had in my head vanished.....the only thing I was aware of was her taste, her smell, how soft her lips were and the feeling of her tongue finding mine. My hand left her face and slowly made its way down her arm, her side and to her waist. As she moved her body, my hand found the silky skin of her back.... higher and higher my hand went up; the shirt going with it.... then she did the rest.

I watched her as she removed her shirt..... _Oh My God..... What are you doing Ivashkov.....Don't let this happen, not yet! Stop it! She'll think more of you if you stop now..... _ I yelled at myself hoping that I would listen. Then she smiled and kissed me again.... _Oh No!.... Stop it fool!!! _

"Vikki..." I whispered, desperately trying to stop myself. "No..."

"I want to." She said in between kisses. I groaned as I kissed her back; wrapping my fingers into her hair....

"Oh, God...." I squeezed my eyes and turned my face away as I pushed myself up. I _had_ to stop now, before things went too far. I didn't _want_ to stop, but I wanted this to be something good, something right and if I didn't stop now...... It wouldn't be either. "Vikki, I...."

"Don't stop Adrian. I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't want to be." She said. I looked deep into her eyes and knew she believed what she said. But I had to do the right thing.

"I know. You have _NO _idea how much I want this to happen." I swallowed and steeled myself as I looked into her eyes. "I want this so bad.....but I want it to be right.... the right time, the right circumstances, the right everything. You deserve.... it to be right." A tear escaped and fell onto her cheek. I wiped it away with my thumb but never took my eyes of hers. "Don't be mad at me..." she shook her head furiously.

"Never. Thank you." She whispered. I didn't know what she was thanking me for and gave her a curious look. "For respecting me enough to stop. I apologise.....for what I said on the plane, you're nothing like my father. To compare you to him.... I'm sorry." I smiled and pulled her onto my lap where we hugged each other tight. "Can I stay a little longer? I just need to be held."

"Of course you can stay. But you have to go back to your mom soon, if she finds you missing and asks your brother to go find you; mine will be the first door he'll knock at. And that may not end well." She couldn't help but laugh.

"Don't worry.... I'll protect you from the big bad Russian." She teased.

"I don't need your protection Vikki. I may not fight with my fists as well as you can, but I have my own weapons..." I said tapping my fingers to the side of my head. Then I thought of a way we could both get what we wanted. "You know what my special...ability is...don't you?" I asked her. She nodded. "Would you like to know what it's like?" Her smile stretched across her face in answer.

"Where do I go? Here....on the bed?" she said that last part in a seductive voice. _She is so going to get you into so much trouble Ivashkov.... _ I thought to myself.

"Either, but you _could_ go back to your room and save yourself from having to _defend_ me from your own brother..." She thought this over for a minute.... and realised that it would probably be for the best, so nodded and stood up. I took in every inch of her body and then I stood up beside her. I couldn't believe I stopped myself as I looked down at her curves and then back to her eyes.

I took a deep breath and shook my head. "You should put your shirt back on before I change my mind little Koshka." She took her shirt out of my hand and smiled, she looked like she was considering _not_ putting it back on. "I'll come to you in two hours alright."

"How will I know, when you're there?" she asked as she pulled her shirt back on... A part of me didn't want her to do that, but I would make up for that later.... I opened the door and she turned to face me. She put her hands on my shoulders and I put my hands on her hips, I leant forward and gave her a soft kiss.

"Oh, you'll know." I said with a smile, which she returned.

"Two hours, I'll be waiting." She whispered and then she stepped forward and kissed me again. It wasn't until we broke apart that I was even aware that we were being watched. Apparently, Rose & Dimitri had come back to see Oksana. As I looked up I saw Rose pushing Dimitri through the door as she shook her head at me. Vikki must have been as distracted as me because she turned around when she saw me look over her shoulder. "Ah, bye.... thanks for the talk." She said loud enough to be heard. Then she mouthed.... _Two hours! _

"No problems." I said. Then before she went into her apartment, she looked to where Rose was still standing, she said goodnight and went in. Rose looked back inside Oksana's rooms and then back to me. I shrugged my shoulders to her and shut my door. Hopefully they wouldn't come knocking later on. The next two hours were the longest two hours I'd spent in a long time.... I tried reading; I think I only read a paragraph...but I read it like twenty times.... I tried watching television, but I have no idea what was on. I had a shower, I even went to the feeder room.... then I planned on what our meeting place would be, but eventually the time came for my visit. I went and laid down on the bed and closed my eyes and reached out for Vikki. I remembered that she'd told me that she'd never been to a beach, so I decided on showing her one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Bora Bora.

I stood at the line of trees watching as she flickered into the dream. I'd put her in a white bikini with a hot pink sarong tied around her waist; minus a shirt. She was as stunning as I thought she'd be. She didn't realise what she was wearing at first, she was mesmerised by her surroundings. Her eyes went wide as she looked at the bungalows built out over the water, and then looking at the white sand she smiled in amazement. She tilted her head back with her eyes closed and faced the sun. She then walked towards the water but stopped before she actually touched it; she started looking around when she realised that I wasn't there.

"Adrian?" she called out. "Are you here?" I was really enjoying just watching her, but I wanted to talk to her too. So I walked out from behind the tree.

"I'm here." I said. As I walked towards her I couldn't help but grin as I took in her appearance. "Hmm..... Looks good." I said indicating to her attire. She then looked down at what she was wearing and gasped.

"What in the _hell_ am I wearing? How....?"

"I always wondered what you'd look like in a bikini... And I thought white would look great against your skin color, and it does..."

"You.... you put me in this?" She said. She didn't look all that happy about it, but that was just too bad.... I liked it... I shrugged my shoulders in reply, but she just narrowed her eyes at me. "I'd prefer a little more clothing if you wouldn't mind."

"Actually.... I _would_ mind. After all, when in Rome...." she was about to go off at me so I kept talking... "Anyway, do you like the dream?"

"Apart from what I'm wearing...yes. It's beautiful." _Just like you, _I thought. I closed the distance between us so that I stood only a foot away from her, but she obviously wanted to be closer. She pressed herself against me, wrapping her arms around my waist. "So, do you like the water?" she asked me.

"Yes I do. Do you?" Then a mischievous smile spread across her face. Bringing her face to mine, I eagerly waited for a kiss that wouldn't come...

"I'm not sure... I may need to be rescued." She whispered against my lips. Then she took off running to the water, as she ran she removed the sarong; letting it fall to the sand. I quickly changed the cargo pants I'd been wearing into swimming shorts. We swam for ages, playing in the water, but then we just sat on the sand and talked. We spoke about everything. What it was like for her growing up, Dimitri beating their father up when he was only 13 years old; that really didn't surprise me much. My abilities, how it affected me, my feelings for Rose were even discussed. I'd never been this open with anyone before, not my mother, friends....even Rose. I just felt so comfortable with her. I didn't even feel the need for the sarcasm that normally rolls off my tongue. Neither one of us realised how long we'd been there until she started to fade. "What's happening?" she said.

"You're waking up." I told her. "Wanna go for a coffee?" but before she could answer she faded out. I opened my eyes and looked at the clock; 4:30pm.... time to get up. I got up and went to get ready. As I walked out to the door I saw that a letter had been pushed under my door. Picking it up, I noticed Rose's handwriting.

_Adrian,_

_I'm sorry about what happened in the park, I hope you are alright. There are things we need to talk about, but that will have to wait until later. I'm happy that you have found someone who can love you with all of their heart, unreservedly; you deserve that and so much more. _

_I wanted to you know that at 6pm in the morning, Dimitri & I will be getting married in the church here at Court. We both want you to be there, but understand if you can't._

_Love Rose._

I didn't know how I felt about the wedding. I knew it was going to happen one day, and in the back of my mind, I knew it would probably happen soon, but it was only an hour and a half away. I really didn't know if I'd go or not, but then I remembered Vikki. I realised that for the first time in a long time, someone else had a piece of my heart other than Rose. I'd always love her; I doubted that that would ever change, but now....I knew my future laid elsewhere. And plus, this would be a good way to say goodbye. So, I turned around, went back to my closet and got changed into my navy silk suit, the perfect suit for a wedding.


	21. A Few Answers

**Thank you all for your wonderful reviews... Everyone knows Dimitri is HOT! So fire just seemed the perfect element for him to control... hehehe  
The wedding is coming up, not long now... :-D  
Don't forget to review...!**

**Chapter 21**

**A Few Answers**

Rose's Point Of View

"I'm really not the same...am I?" He said with such a pained look, I put my hand under his chin and lifted his face up to mine. "I thought I could ignore it, go on as though I really was the same person, but I can't, because I'm not."

"No...You're not." I said softly, "You're more. I can't even imagine what it must be like for you. I know you're feeling lost, unsure of yourself...but promise me that we'll work this out together, always." It was breaking my heart to see so much pain in his eyes. I'd seen it a few times since I got him back, and expected it really. He'd killed innocent people, lots of them, probably Moroi as well. But it still broke my heart to see the pain.

"Always." He said. I leant forward and kissed him.

_Rose! Where are you? I thought you were going to meet me, I have something to show you... _She sounded a little annoyed, then I realised how long we'd been out here.

_Hang on Liss._ _We've had a little incident that I'll tell you about soon, but I need to eat first... I won't be long._

"What's wrong?" He asked with a worried expression.

I shook my head, "Lissa...and I'm still hungry." He giggled softly as he pulled me into his chest and buried his head in my hair. I could hear him breathing deep and it made me smile. He did this a lot lately, when he was feeling bad and I loved the thought that maybe, somehow, my scent gave him comfort. I know his scent not only drove me wild sometimes, but it always made me feel better, safer. He pulled back and went to look at me, but something caught his eye from behind me. I turned to see what he was looking at just as he spoke.

"Mr Doru. I didn't know you were here." Dimitri said. I smiled as I saw him,

"Robert!" I said as I got up from Dimitri's lap. "When did you get here? I thought you were still at the Academy." I saw his face change ever so slightly and then I shook my head as I realised what a silly statement that was. Everyone thought exactly what he _wanted_ them to think. He could have been here for ages while everyone thought he was still at the school...

"I came here yesterday with Guardian Tanner." He said obviously knowing what I was thinking. I wondered why he came yesterday; Oksana had already seen into Tanners mind, we knew he told the truth as far as he knew it. "Don't think about it too much Rose."

"Hey... stay out of my head." I said with a half smile. "Why are you here?"

"I was taking a walk when I saw..." he glanced at Dimitri who was now standing beside me. "what happened." Dimitri stiffened a little but didn't say anything. "Don't worry, I won't say anything. I'm sorry I didn't say anything to you both before, but I didn't know if this would happen or not. As you know Rose, I've only ever done '_that'_ once before." We both knew what he was referring to; the reversal. "When I bought Claude back, it was ages before anyone noticed that there was something different with him and it was only subtle at first. The air would pick up sometimes, at other times it would settle down... but one day he got really mad at something... I can't remember what now, but when he did, the air around us suddenly turned into a tornado. It was only then that we realised that he was able to control the air element and as such, must have been closer to Moroi since being changed. I didn't know if it would happen to Dimitri too but I've been keeping an eye out for any signs since... the reversal, and nothing had happened that I could see, so I thought it must have been a once off thing with Guardian Beauchamp."

"Beauchamp?" I knew that name... I thought for a few seconds and then it hit me... Guardian Beauchamp was one of the guards in France that helped rescue Lissa and me. He was really quiet, I hadn't actually talked to him, but Dimitri said that he kept staring at him while the rescue plan was being devised. "That's the guardian..."

"Yeah," said Dimitri. "That answers a few questions doesn't it. Do you know any more that you _haven't_ told us about?"

"Yes. It might take a while and it's probably better if we talk in private, away from hearing ears." Robert said while looking around the park. Just then my stomach grumbled and Dimitri & Robert both laughed. "Rose is hungry, go get her something to eat and I'll meet you both back at Oksana's room. She might like to hear this too." We nodded and said our goodbyes and then he walked off to our apartment building.

"Well, it might have been a little helpful if he'd told us this earlier." I said a little annoyed.

"Mmm, but at least we might get a few answers now. Come on," he said with a half smile, "Both my babies are hungry." We walked towards the cafe now and the closer I got, the more my stomach grumbled... I was starving... But I couldn't help but smile as the recent event in the park played in my mind. Not that a crispy Adrian was all that funny... well, maybe just a little, but it made me think of my new nickname for him... "What are you thinking about now...?" he said seeing me smile. I looked up at him and couldn't help but giggle...

"I know what happened before isn't funny," I really started laughing again as 'crispy Adrian' popped back in my mind... "I just got a mental picture in my head of...Adrian...a little crispy around the edges..." As much as he didn't like Adrian at this moment in time, he was a little taken back with my comment... "and I also thought how appropriate your new nickname is..."

"What nickname?" he asked confused...

"Oh Hot Stuff...," I said placing my hand over my heart in mock hurt... "Thou dost wound me that you do not hang on my every word..." I tried saying it in an English accent, but it didn't come out very well, so I jogged off laughing; Dimitri just followed shaking his head. I finally got my Lasagne, which I was eternally grateful for, I didn't realise just how hungry I was until I started eating. Lissa interrupted me again mid mouthful...

_Are you finished yet? _She asked.

_Well, you tell me._.. _you can take a look for yourself you know._

_But you told me not to... _I smiled and I could feel her confusion at what to do...

_Thank you Lissa._ _I'm still eating, but I won't be long. Oh, by the way, can you and Christian meet us in Oksana's room in about ten minutes?_

_Yeah, what's going on? Is it to do with the 'incident' you mentioned before?_

_Yeah, it does. Robert should be there when you get there too._

_Robert? What's he doing here and what does he have to do with it all?_

_You'll see, just be there in ten. I'll tell you everything soon._

_Alright, see you then._

I looked back to Dimitri who had his '_Now what are you two talking about'_ face on... "I asked her to be there too. I'd only have to explain it all again later on anyway, so she may as well hear it firsthand." He smiled and nodded in agreement. We finished up and then made our way back up to the apartment. We walked out of the elevator and turned to walk up our wing of the floor, as we turned the corner we saw Vikki and Adrian at his door, kissing... I felt Dimitri stiffen beside us and I gripped his arm hard.

"Calm down... She told you this would happen." I whispered to him. As we got to Oksana's door, we heard some of the conversation.

"Oh, you'll know." Adrian said smiling, I was happy for them, they both looked really happy.

"Two hours," she said. "I'll be waiting." She said this really quietly but I knew if _I'd_ heard, Dimitri would have heard too... I knew what was going on; Adrian was obviously going to visit her later on...in her dreams. Then she kissed him again, that's when I opened the door without knocking. When they broke apart, Adrian looked up at us; Dimitri was starting to heat up again, so I pushed him through the door before things got out of hand. I shook my head at Adrian thinking of what the next few months were going to be like... _"Guardian Referee Rose Hathaway..."_ Ugh

"Ah, bye... thanks for the talk." Vikki said loudly, obviously wanting to be heard by Dimitri...

"No problems." Said Adrian. Vikki walked to her apartment, which was opposite Oksana's and turned to look at me, she gave me a quick glance but looked into the room at Dimitri. She then opened the door and went inside. I looked in Oksana's room and saw Dimitri just barely containing himself. I quickly looked back to Adrian who shrugged his shoulders and closed his door. _YUP! Referee Hathaway at your service... _I thought to myself... I sighed as I walked into the apartment to one very pissed off Russian and five very confused friends. I walked up to Dimitri and put my hand on his face, he wasn't as hot so I led him over to the sofas.

"Okay," I said, "Well, where to start... Robert knows why we're here already, so I'm going to have to give you all a quick rundown. Lissa knows part of this, but not the newest little revelation." I gave her a quick glance and could see that she really wanted to know, but she was respecting my wish for her not to go peeking around. "Do you want to tell them?" I asked Dimitri but he just shook his head. "Um... starting at the beginning... Before we left for France, Dr Olendsky took some blood from both of us to see if there were any answers as to how we were able to conceive. Well, when we got back, we got answers. When Dimitri was turned, it did more than alter his appearance and...personality." I glanced to look at him but he was looking at the ground in thought. "It also changed his DNA, when we were able to bring his soul back; it was brought back to a changed body. Dimitri is now nearly all Moroi genetically." I looked into the faces of some very shocked friends.

"But he doesn't feed." Said Oksana. "So how much Moroi DNA does he have?"

"About 95 percent," I said. "The doctor seems to think that the parts he doesn't have are the parts that deal with the feeding side of things. And now for the part that you don't know about." I said looking at Lissa. "Ever since the reversal, I've noticed that at different times, Dimitri's skin would get hot, like a fever, but then it would go back to a normal temperature and he never got sick. I only noticed it a few times, but never thought a lot about it. Until tonight... We were just outside in the park...when he saw something that got him quite upset, really upset, his skin got all hot again, the hottest it's ever been and we found out that he can now control fire. Obviously, along with the extra Moroi DNA; he's now a fire user." I looked at the face of my friends who all sat with their eyes unblinking and mouths open. Dimitri & I looked at each other and then back at the others.

"_**Excellent!**_" said Christian... everyone jumped at the suddenness of his voice. "That is so _cool_! Now I've got someone other than Abe to work with..." I laughed under my breath...

_Rose... Are you alright with this?_

_Yes, I'm fine Liss... I have the man I love sitting beside me and he loves me, I don't really care what his DNA is..._

"I've seen you in the sun like before, so obviously _that_ doesn't hurt you as it would Moroi," said Mark, "you're still strong like before, you don't _look_ any different than before, it's like you're the first in a new breed of vampire."

"Not the first," said Robert from the corner of the room. He got up from where he was sitting and joined us on the sofas. "He's the second, another Dhampir was taken many years ago in Europe; I helped bring him back. You see, I knew there was something different about me from when I was quite young, I was able to use spirit at a much earlier age than even Lissa here. My mother thought I was 'touched in the head' as she'd put it, and I spent many years 'talking' to doctors and such, then when I told her that I spoke to the dead, she really did think I was insane. I was in Europe years ago; before I'd mastered the ability to turn the darkness of spirit into something physical and I was feeling rather...messed up, crazy...at this particular time and one day I was caught without a guardian." I couldn't believe what he was saying... before I could ask the question that had formed in my head, he continued. "I had walked into some back alleys in Paris where a strigoi found me, when he attacked, my instincts kicked into action. I held him frozen with spirit and in a state of panic, I found myself entering the 'in between' world that I'd often been to in my life. While there I happened to see the soul of the strigoi that I just froze. I was able to converse with his spirit and together we wanted to see if we could get his soul back to his body. Well, I got his soul back in but we didn't know anything was different about him until he had a fling with another Dhampir. At first we all thought she had lied about the baby being his, but I compelled her into telling me the truth, which was that she'd only ever been with him. Then a few months later, we'd noticed that funny things were happening with the air around him, especially when he got upset. One day he got really upset and caused a tornado."

"When you said that he'd fathered a child... how long ago and what became of the child?" I asked.

"The child was a girl and she is a year older than you Rose." He took a deep breath and looking directly into my eyes he said something I hadn't expected. "You've even met her."

"What? When...when did I meet her?" I asked. He smiled at me and then at Dimitri.

"In France, and you'll meet her again here soon too. She's going to go to St Vladimir's when school starts up again, but before that, she'll stay here with me so that we can work together with the other spirit users. Her name is Yelena Zahkov, do you remember her?" I did remember her actually... she was a really tall, blonde haired, blue eye Moroi that was at the castle resort after Lissa and I were rescued. She was really quiet and shy, almost withdrawn. And now I knew that she was the daughter of two Dhampirs; one of who used to be strigoi.

"Yeah, I do remember her. When is she coming here?" I asked.

"She should be here within the week, Guardian Montague will be ringing me when he finalises the arrangements."

"Does she know who her father is? What he used to be?" Asked Dimitri.

"Yes, she knows everything. Although she was brought up by her mother, she's not all that close to her father.


	22. The Eve Of A New Beginning

**Okay... so here's another one! Thank you all so much for you reviews. Sorry I haven't answered you all yet... I've been busy working and writing... :-D  
Christmas is coming soon so I want to get as many chapters up my sleeve as I can get! hehehe  
I hope you enjoy the chapters... Sorry if some seem a little slow... but you know, 'the calm before the storm!" hehehe  
Thanks again, Sandy.**

**Chapter Twenty-Two**

The Eve Of A New Beginning.

_Rose...? _Asked Lissa through the bond. _When we're finished here can you come to our room, I have something I need to show you._

_And what would that be?_

_Well, you'll just have to come to my room and see, won't you? _I tried to have a look but she'd put up some barriers. By my expression she could tell that I was trying to peek so she smiled and waved a finger at me. _I stayed out of your head, now you stay out of mine._.. _Cheat!_

"Fine." I said aloud. Everyone looked at me confused.

"Quit it you two..." said Christian. He really hated it when we spoke to each other like that, probably just as much as I loved doing it just to get under his skin! "So, he's Moroi in every way other than feeding, needing blood?" Christian asked Robert.

"Yes, well as far as we know anyway."

"But he looks as though he's kept everything that he had before, as a Dhampir, like strength, speed, can go out in the sun; but is able to wield magic like Moroi." Said Oksana.

"Well, sort of..." Said Dimitri. We all looked at him in surprise. He shrugged as he explained, "My hearing is more acute, as is my sight. It's actually still like when I was..." he stopped before saying the dreaded 'S' word. The memories were still very raw and even though he put on a good show, I knew he thought about that time a lot. "_All_ of my senses are heightened." Then he looked at me like he wanted to say something else but stopped himself. I wanted to know what it was and I didn't think he would say anything here so I stood up and went to go into the kitchen.

"I need a drink, I'll be right back." Then I looked directly into Dimitri's eyes as I raised my eyebrows and continued. "Do you want one too?" Luckily for him, he understood my question and nodded as he stood up and followed me to get a 'drink'. As I searched for a glass, he stood behind me waiting for me to speak. I finally found one and went to the sink. I turned to him and said, "So what else haven't you told me? And don't say 'nothing'; I know your face all too well Dimitri." He looked at me while he stood resting at the counter, his expression unchanging; he had his guardian mask on, but I think he realised that I wouldn't let this go, so he decided to tell me the truth.

"Well, the enhanced senses weren't always there, that's only just started up; over the last week or two. There are things that I still have the ability to do, that I didn't have before."

"Like...?" I asked.

"Compulsion, I can do that pretty good. And my speed, I'm as fast as when I was...you know." He said with a shrug of his shoulder. Why didn't he tell me that before now..?

"Anything else?"

"No, not really..." I raised my eyebrows in exasperation, "Well, it's like I said, _all_ of my senses are extremely heightened, smell, sight, sound...touch, taste..." those last two words were said with a half smile and in a softer voice, a voice that was making me feel... I shook my head to get those thoughts out. He knew what that voice did to me and just to prove just how fast he really was, he crossed the floor of the kitchen in the blink of an eye; he really was just as fast as...before. My heart beat faster as I'm sure he could hear, and then he bent down and nuzzled at my neck, my eyes closing as I enjoyed the sensation of his lips against my skin. "I just didn't want to scare you, that's why I didn't say anything before. Roza..?" I think I said _'Hmm'_ under my breath, I'm not sure... "Your heart is beating rather fast and your body temperature just went up...is there anything I can...do to help alleviate those symptoms?" I opened my eyes to see lust filled brown eyes staring at me.

"You are so mean. If we weren't here right now..." I said shaking my head. A smile spread across his face and he lifted one eyebrow in question. "Let's just say you wouldn't be standing, nor would you be clothed right now..."

"Well, I can be back in the apartment in a second or two, how about you?" It still amazed me how he could render me speechless in just a few words... he didn't even have to touch me to make my body burn, just his words and his eyes were enough.

_Rose...? Normally 'drinks' don't cause that sort of reaction...whatever is going on in there; forget it! You've already made plans with me, remember? _I closed my eyes and shook my head... she really did know how to spoil my fun.

"Sorry Hot Stuff... Lissa's already pencilled me in for a while after here... apparently she has something to show me back at her place." He was a little surprised that I was turning him down, as was I, but then he got a wicked look on his face.

"So have I Roza...so have I." He flicked his eyebrows up quickly and smirked then he turned around and left me there with my mouth open, slightly breathless. As I stood fixed to the floor I heard him say to everyone that he needed to go to bed as we had an early rise in the morning and everybody should be at the chapel at 6pm sharp. I heard everyone's goodnights and then the door shut, that's when I walked back into the lounge room.

_Rose? _Asked Lissa through the bond. I walked out to the lounge room barely stopping myself from running out after him...

"Um, seeing as the topic of conversation has left us for the night, I'm going to go say goodnight to him," and then looking at Lissa I said, "I'll see you at your apartment in...an hour?"

"Is that enough time Rose?" asked Christian only just containing his laughter.

"Maybe Christian, but then again...maybe not! Goodnight everyone... see you in the morning." I smirked as I waved at them and then walked through the door, but as I went to shut it I heard Christian say... _"Oksana, what sort of drinks do you have in there?"_and then everyone laughed. I wasn't as fast as Dimitri, but anticipation is a great motivator.

I opened the door to darkness, and I mean pitch black darkness, he'd obviously drawn the curtains to make sure no light came into the room. I knew he was here; I just couldn't see him, I shut the door and walked a couple of steps into the room. He never made a sound, and my skin prickled knowing he was watching me...almost stalking me...I grinned as I looked around but saw nothing... my heart beating a little faster...I tilted my head to the side and concentrated on trying to hear him, but nothing, so then I concentrated on his smell...the smell I loved so much. But it was no use; his smell was everywhere here, so I walked towards direction of the bedroom hoping I wouldn't fall over anything. I'd only gone a couple of steps when I had a feeling that he was behind me, I stopped and turned and even though I still couldn't see him, I knew he was there and I smiled as I bit my lip. My whole body was on fire; anticipating his touch; I closed my eyes as I turned my face up to him but instead of a kiss on my lips, his lips came to my neck.

"You're very sexy maya krasaveetsa." He whispered on my skin. "Now... I do remember something about me not standing upright and not being clothed either..." Dark or not, his clothes didn't stand a chance against my hormones... Ripping was definitely heard, along with giggles... But a good time was definitely had by all and no unwelcome visitors came calling which was good...for _her_! Laying together afterwards I got to thinking... after everything that had happened, I hadn't told Adrian or Dimitri's family what time the wedding was, so I carefully got up and wrote a couple of notes... There was a lot I would have liked to say to Adrian, but that was for another time, so I said what needed to be said... I didn't know if he would want to be there, maybe he would, but he deserved the chance to decide for himself. I put the notes in some envelopes that I'd found in the desk and went to slip them under their doors. I was about to go back inside when Lissa's door opened up and she poked her head out...

"Finished are we?" she said with a grin. I couldn't help but blush a little... "I hope nothing got burnt? You both looked a little 'flushed' when you came out of the kitchen..."

"Yeah... well, what can I say?" I said shrugging my shoulders. "He's hot!" She shook her head and laughed.

"Are you coming in here now...? I have some things to show you..."

"I will, just let me tell Dimitri where I am." She nodded and went back inside. I opened the door and walked back into darkness... I flicked on the light, but it flicked back off... _That was weird... _I flicked it on and once again before the bulb could light anything up, the switch turned off again... Just then it hit me...Dimitri... So I just smiled and laughed under my breath. "Yeah alright... I get it, you're very fast..." Then the light switched on and he was standing in front of me wearing a huge smile, and that's all he had on! "I love you." I said simply... then I grabbed his hand and held it on my stomach and amended what I'd just said. "_We_ love you." Then he kissed me again.

"I never tire of hearing that."

"Good, because you'll hear it a lot! But, at the moment, I have to go... Lissa still has something to '_show'_ me..."

"Okay, but don't be long. I miss you when you're not here." I kissed him back and opened the door to leave, but before I went I looked him up and down...

"I expect to return and find you in the same state I left you in..." then I quickly shut the door giggling... Christian opened the door when I knocked...

"Good to see no friction burns Buffy..." he said smiling...

"That you can see, Sparky!" I replied...

"Oh! _Good_ one Rose... Hey, while you're here, do you think Dimitri would mind if I went to talk to him? I'd like to talk about his new _ability_." Remembering my last instructions to him before I left... I didn't think that visitors would be appreciated...

"Ah, maybe not tonight, he's a little tired." I said with a smile. "Maybe you could talk to him in the morning while you're getting ready." Christian was standing up as Dimitri's best man, so they'd have time to talk then.

"Alright," he said with a giggle, "Lissa's in the bedroom; I hope you have plenty of time to spare..." He grinned and went to the TV. I went into her room and my mouth dropped open... There were four racks of wedding dresses and another four of bridesmaid dresses...

"Oh Liss..." I moaned... and then I heard Christian laugh from outside...

"What? You _had_ to have a dress for tomorrow and there wouldn't be time in the morning, so I had some brought here..." Seeing my scrunched up face, she put her hands on her hips and reflected my facial expression. "Don't give me grief Rosemarie." I had to stop myself from laughing at her "being forceful" attempt... "Just get your butt over here and look at the dresses..." I knew I was fighting a losing battle so for the next hour we tried on _lots_ of dresses... I finally picked a dress that I loved... (_**A.N. Pic in profile**_) It was my chance to be 'the special one', for a change... Lissa's dress looked amazing on her as well, red suited her porcelain skin. (_**Also in profile**_.) She wrote some numbers on a card and gave it to me; apparently it was the numbers of the two dresses..."Oh, tell Dimitri that first thing in the morning, he has to go to the bridal shop and give them this card, they will match their suits to our dresses, Christian's already been measured up, but they have to go early to pick them up..."

"Thank you Liss." I said as I gave her a kiss. I could feel the happiness and excitement she felt through the bond.

"You deserve it Rose; everything. It makes me so happy that you get to have _your_ happily ever after too. Just imagine, in a couple of hours we're both going to be married women." We hugged each other tight, well as tight as I could around her belly... Just then one of the babies kicked me! Which made both of us laugh.

"Feisty little buggers aren't they!" I said. We walked to the door and looked to see Christian asleep on the sofa... well he made out he was anyway... "You can have your way with her now Sparky, I'm done!" A small smile tugged at the side of his mouth.

"Night Rose." He said. I said goodbye and made my way back to our apartment. I opened the door to darkness once more, but didn't attempt to look around or turn the light on, I just laughed. In the space of a couple of seconds, I was scooped up in his arms and lying beside him in our bed... I absolutely loved this man!


	23. The Big Day

**Hi again everyone... Well, You will probably all have a word or two to say... :-D but I wrote the wedding chapter and it came out a little long... so I halved it and made  
it into two chapters... Then it happened again, so I have the next chapter, so now instead of only having two chapters... I have four!!! hehehehe This just means that I  
will be able to update daily.... That's got to be a good thing doesn't it??? **

**Anyway.... On with the moosh! hehehe Hope you all like it!  
Sandy**

**Chapter Twenty-Three**

The Big Day!

I woke up to an empty bed...again! I didn't like it when he did this... but at least this time the bed wasn't completely empty. I rolled over to see a red rose on the pillow beside me and a note....

_My beautiful Roza._

_Today you will make me the happiest man alive and I can't tell you  
what that means to me.  
I will be the one at the front of the church with the big grin on my face.  
Don't keep me waiting too long..._

_I love you forever and always._

_Dimitri._

Even with everything that he was dealing with, he still tried to make me smile.... I got up and went to have a shower and brush my teeth as I knew it wouldn't be long before Lissa would check in; as it was she caught me halfway through my shower. As I was drying myself off, I could hear someone knocking at my door. "It's open... come on in." I yelled. I actually thought it weird that she wasn't here before now... I put my bra and knickers on to go outside, which was lucky as I came out to see my parents walking through the lounge room. "Oh! Hello..." I said with a smile... "I thought you were Lissa." Mom came up and wrapped me up in a rather tight hug....

"Are you excited Rose?"

"Ah...yeah! Just a bit. Where's your dress." I asked her. I hadn't seen her in a dress in a long time and was rather looking forward to it.

"It's on its way up. Your father wanted to come see you." She said. I looked up to see him looking at me with a smirk.

"Good morning Dad."

"Good morning Rose. Something blue?" he asked as he saw the Nazar around my neck.

"Yeah, and it's something from both of you, you gave it to mum, she gave it to me.... it's where it belongs." I could see in his eyes how much my acceptance of him meant, neither of us thought we'd ever get to this point.

"How's my son to be this morning?" he asked.

"Don't know... he wasn't here when I woke up. But he was good last night." _He was very, very good last night... _I thought back to last night with a smile....

"_Rose!_" chipped my mother, snapping me out of my day dream.... "How's the pregnancy going?"

"Really good, apart from the constant need to pee......and the hunger..." I shouldn't think of that word.... I just had the weirdest craving for some really raw meat! Yuck.... "You thought I had a good appetite before... you should see me now!" They didn't seem to notice my little cover up as they both laughed. Just then Lissa, Oksana, Vikki and Olena walked into the apartment.

"Good. I was hoping you would have had your shower.... We don't have long and we need to start getting you ready. The dresses will be here shortly and the boys are getting ready at Oksana's." I turned smiling in the direction of their rooms, just knowing he was so close.... She grabbed my hand and walked over to the stool at the kitchen bench. "Mr Mazur, will you be staying to watch?"

_Nice hint Liss.... _I said through the bond.

_Yeah, not bad hey....do you think he'll take it? _I couldn't help but giggle, and he did take the hint...

"No....I'm leaving. But only because you asked so nicely Princess." Sarcasm dripped off the sentence but it was all said in good fun... nothing was going to get me down today. Nothing! "I'll be back in an hour and a half Kiz, so be ready...." He bent down and kissed my forehead and then left the room. I watched him leave and thought what a shame it was that I didn't inherit his graceful walk.... For the next hour and a bit, I was pulled and primped, preened and plucked! My mother volunteered to do the waxing, and by her face she enjoyed every second of it.

"Stop your screaming you pansy! It's just a little hair pulling..." she said with a smile. Then there was a knock at my door.

_Who could that be? _Lissa asked.

"I don't know Liss, how about someone open the door to find out!" I said aloud... Mom went and opened the door, and to our surprise, Mia was standing there. "Mia! Oh my God.... come in." I yelled to her.

"Hi Lissa, hi Rose..." She said as she nodded to my mother. She'd grown a lot since we last saw her, she wasn't as short and her face had matured.

"We were at the Cafe last night, but you weren't there." I said. Apparently she'd been in Europe for the last month and she only got back two days ago, she looked really tired too. "I was going to let you know that I'm getting married today and to see if you wanted to come."

"I'd love to Rose. Who...?"

"Dimitri." Said Lissa. Mia didn't know about our relationship, last time we were here she knew we were all up to something, but we didn't let her in on the details, and I could see she was still curious.

"You... and Guardian Belikov... Wow!" Just then she saw Lissa's belly, up till now she'd been standing behind me doing my hair. "Oh my God! Lissa..... You're..." I smiled as I thought of a wonderful response...

"Yeah, I keep telling her that it's not healthy to keep the farts in.... But noooo, she wants to act the lady all the time..."

_Rose! _Yelled Lissa in my head.

"_Rose_!" yelled my mother.... everyone else laughed with me... _I_ thought it was funny... Mia just stood there with her mouth open. I guess her time at court had dulled her memory of me.

"It was a _joke_... Gees.... Lighten up everyone...."

"Yes Mia, I'm pregnant." Seeing Mia trying to work out a way of asking whose baby it was, was quite funny. When we were here last time, we implied that there was something going on with Adrian, but she knew that Lissa had been involved with Christian too... "Christian and I were married a few weeks ago." Mia congratulated her and me, but she hadn't seen my belly yet...

The dresses had been delivered while I got dolled up, so I got up off the stool to get changed. As soon as I did, Mia's eyes went straight to the little bulge between my hips. Her eyes nearly popped out of her head, but to her credit, she didn't ask. "It's a long story Mia, one I will tell you about, but yes, this _is_ Dimitri's child." I smiled and walked into the bedroom with Lissa and Mom, leaving her to think over all the possibilities. "I think it's a case of information overload with Mia." I said to them with a smile.

"Yeah I know... Poor Mia." Said Lissa. We were now dressed and ready to go. Mom looked fantastic in her royal blue satin dress. It looked amazing with her red hair and showed off all her curves.

"Has dad seen this dress yet?" I asked her.

"No." Was all she said, but I could see that she couldn't wait to see his reaction. We walked outside and the instant Olena saw me, tears flooded from her eyes. She walked to me and hugged me tight, she was a strong woman.

"Oh Rose, you are stunning. Thank you for making my Dimka so happy. I just came from seeing him and he is nearly bursting with happiness. I've never seen him this content." She kissed both cheeks while holding my face in her hands. "I could not have asked for a more perfect choice for my son than you. Welcome to my family....officially."

_Don't you dare cry Rose. _Said Lissa. Too late.... "Ugh! I said don't cry... Come on, before you ruin all of your makeup." She said dabbing a tissue at the tears that had fallen onto my cheeks. Someone knocked and then the door opened and I saw my father in all his glory. He wore a black silk suit with a gold vest and blood red tie that matched Lissa's dress perfectly. His hair was slicked back into a ponytail and he was stunning.

"_Wow_. You two girls look amazing. Kiz...absolutely _stunning_." He said as he hugged me. Then he saw my mother out of the corner of his eye. He looked her up and down and then his eyebrow went up as a smile spread over his face. Looking back to me he said, "How could you not with a mother as stunning as you have." I could see how much my mother loved to hear him say this, though she tried very hard not to let it show. "Are you ready?"

"I most certainly am..." He nodded and held out an arm for me to take. My mother came to take my other arm once we were in the hall.


	24. The Church

**Okay, here's the other half of the previous chapter... And thank you all for your reviews. I will start answering you all soon.  
Sandy**

**Chapter Twenty-four**

The Church.

I had asked them both to walk me down the aisle; I thought it was important that they both gave me away to Dimitri, for them _and_ for my nearly husband. My father had organised limo's to take us to the church, one for me and my parents and another for everyone else. Mia grabbed one of Lissa's dresses which looked fantastic on her. On the drive to the church my thoughts quickly went to Adrian, if he'd come. I thought it would be healthy for him to be here, but I understood if he couldn't. My worry if he'd be here was laid to rest as we pulled up outside the church. He was standing at the doorway waiting for us. He looked amazing in a navy blue suit, very handsome, and I had to stop myself from crying again.... He walked down to the car as it pulled up and he opened the door for us to get out. My mother went first and she said hello to him, then he bent down and offered his hand to me.

"You look beautiful Little Dhampir." I smiled as I took his hand and got out of the car; which took a little effort in this dress... He looked at me and sighed. "I always knew you'd make a beautiful bride, he's one lucky man." He bent forward and kissed my cheek. "I am really, really happy for you...both."

"Thank you Adrian, and I'm really, really happy for you too." I said with a wink. He knew what I meant as he turned to see Vikki step out of the limo that pulled in behind us.

"If you'll excuse me, I have someone to escort into the church." He said grinning. He walked over to Vikki; took her hands and bent forward to kiss her cheeks. Adrian, Vikki, Olena, Mia & Oksana all went into the church to take their seats.

"Ready?" asked my mother behind me. I turned around and looked up to the doors of the church and smiled. I could just picture him standing there... with a big grin on his face. I nodded and took their arms and followed Lissa up the stairs. As we reached the small foyer, the music started. I was so excited my heart felt like it was going to burst through my chest. "Slow down Rose, it's not a race." My mother whispered as she pulled me back a bit. Lissa walked off and I saw him.... he really did have a big grin.

_No crying Rose! Ask your mother for a tissue. _She said through the bond.

_Shut up and keep walking... _I said with a smile. "Mom, do you have a tissue?" she handed one to me and I quickly dabbed at the tears. We started walking and all I could see was him. I was glad that I had two strong arms holding me; otherwise I would have run down the aisle, they both pulled me back to a slower pace. As we got to the altar, my father kissed my cheek and then took my hand and placed it in Dimitri's.

"Welcome one and all to the wedding of Dimitri and Rosemarie. If there is any here who knows of any reason why these two people should not be wed, speak now or forever hold your peace." Everyone waited for a couple of seconds, but no-one answered....no-one would dare. "Who gives this woman to this man?" asked the priest.

"We do." Said my parents. I turned to smile at them as they took their seats and then handed the bouquet to Lissa to hold.

"We are gathered here today to celebrate the marriage of this man to this woman. Dimitri Belikov, do you take Rosemarie Grace Hathaway to be your lawfully wedded wife, to live in the holy union of Matrimony? Will you love, comfort, cherish and honour her from this day forward, forsaking all others and keeping only unto her for as long as you both shall live?"

"I do." He whispered, then he cleared his throat and spoke louder... "I do, forever."

"Rosemarie Grace Hathaway, do you take..."

"Yes..." I interrupted not thinking....

"Let me finish..." whispered the priest. Everyone in the church laughed and I blushed furiously as Dimitri squeezed my hands. "Do you take Dimitri Belikov to be your lawfully wedded husband," at that words the tears flowed, I couldn't hold them in anymore... "To live in the holy union of matrimony? Will you love, comfort, cherish and honour him form this day forward, forsaking all others and keeping only unto him for as long as you both shall live?"

"Yes, I do with all my heart." I said in between sobs... Christian stepped forward and gave the priest the rings... They were so beautiful, three rings entwined to form one band.

"Dimitri & Rose have chosen to say their own vows here today." Dimitri took my ring and put it on my finger as he said his vows.

"Roza, I never thought this day would ever happen for me. But my life changed forever when you looked out that window and I saw your face for the first time. You challenge me every day & you make me laugh. You make me want to wake up every morning and you make my life worth living. You risked your life to pull me out of the darkness...." his voice caught and a tear rolled down his cheek. "Words cannot express what that means to me. My heart and life belongs to you forever." Tears dripped off my chin as I sniffled. I still had my tissue so I dabbed them away. Then I took his ring from the bible and slipped it on his finger. I took a deep breath and swallowed.

"Dimitri, our miracle lies in the path we have chosen together. I enter into this marriage with you knowing that the true magic of love is not to avoid changes, but to navigate them successfully together. Today I join my life to yours as your friend, your lover, and your confidant. Let me be the shoulder that you lean on, the rock on which you rest, the companion of your life. With you I will walk my path from this day forward... You have taught me strength, love, compassion and patience, and my heart and life belong to you forever." I only just made it before a sob escaped.

The priest then continued. "The wedding ring is a symbol of eternity, no beginning and no end. It is an outward sign of an inward and spiritual bond which unites two hearts in endless love. Through the giving and receiving of these rings and the vows you have made to each other, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride."

Dimitri let go of my hands, walked a step forward and held my face as he bent down to kiss me. My heart felt like it was going to explode so I reached up and threw my arms around his neck and kissed him back. He felt what I was going to do, so he let go of my face and wrapped his arms around my waist and picked me up. I could hear clapping, cheering and a whistle or two, but I never wanted to let him go again... Dimitri pulled back to look into my eyes.... "I love you."

"I love you too." I said and then kissed him again.

_Rose.... You're making everyone blush..._ I giggled as heard her laughing words. He put me down and then we turned to face our friends and family. I got the shock of my life as I saw the Queen and her entourage sitting at the front row. My attention was elsewhere when I came in, but I couldn't believe that she was here. We stepped down from the altar and Tatiana walked in front of us. Dimitri bowed to her and seeing this I thought it would be best to be polite too so I gave a slight curtsey.

"Your Majesty." Dimitri said.

"That was a beautiful ceremony. I really do wish you all the happiness you deserve. You've both been through so much and it makes me happy to see your lives coming together like this." I couldn't believe it....I glanced over to where Robert was standing, wondering if he had any part in her current attitude, but he just shrugged his shoulders.

"Thank you your Majesty." We both said. I felt myself stiffen as she reached out and kissed us both. _Hmm, now it's getting weird.... What is she up to now...? _I thought to myself. She stepped back and let us pass, into the waiting arms and kisses of our friends and families.

_Well, that was interesting... _Said Lissa.

_Mmm._ _Doesn't make me trust her any more than I did before. _

There were a few faces I didn't know, and some I did. Rhonda and Ambrose were here too. I smiled to them as I spoke to Lissa.

_Did you tell Rhonda and Ambrose to come today?_

_Yeah, do you mind? I was out yesterday when I ran into them._

_No, it's fine..._

Then I saw Tasha stand up from the pew where she was sitting.

_You invited __her__!_

_Who? Oh.... Christian sort of did.... He didn't outright invite her, he just said in conversation that your wedding was today and she said that she'd be here.... I didn't say anything because I didn't want to spoil your day. _I could tell that she'd been crying, but I didn't know if that was because she'd lost any chance with Dimitri or if she just cried at weddings... But, I'd play nice.... I smiled at her when she looked up.

We were nearly through all our family when I saw Adrian standing in front of us. I could feel Dimitri heating up and I didn't want anything to ruin my day. "Dimitri... I asked him to come. Please...?" He clenched his jaw and took a deep breath and then nodded, but he never took his eyes of him. I turned and smiled at Adrian.

"That was really beautiful, just like you." He then turned to look at Dimitri. "You're a very lucky man Dimitri. But I'm very happy for both of you. When a love like yours is found, this is how it should be... Congratulations." He then held his hand out to Dimitri. He studied Adrians face for a few seconds and nodded, and then he reached out and shook his hand. Adrian then looked back to me and smiled and kissed my cheek, I could smell the alcohol on his breath and wondered how much he'd already had. "Have a wonderful life, you deserve it." He then stepped back to let us walk past. As we walked, I looked back to see Vikki walk up to him and put her hand on his face. Now it was off to the reception... I'd had no part in the planning so I didn't know what to expect.


	25. A Celebration, Aura Party

**Now... Say the name of this chapter fast.... :-D I'm so happy that you all liked the wedding so much... The story continues...  
Sandy**

**Chapter Twenty-Five**

A celebration: Aura party.

Lissa had organised for the reception to be held in one of the queen's banquet halls. She'd had people in to decorate and it looked amazing. Over the dance floor were three mirror balls throwing little star light spots all around the room, red, black, white and gold was the theme and there were balloons and streamers of each color. We walked in on a red carpet and under a small gazebo thing entwined with ivy, ferns and red, white & nearly black roses. There were large Rose bushes in pots all around the room and each table with its gold table cloths had bouquets of the same roses. It looked like..... "A fairytale." I whispered to myself.

Dimitri squeezed my hand and I looked up to his smiling face. "You deserve your fairytale maya krasaveetsa." As we walked in everyone clapped. I couldn't believe that people had accepted our decision to marry. Normally two Dhampirs marrying was looked down upon; they were made to feel as though they were committing some serious felony against not only their own kind, but against the Moroi as well. Why were we any different? Just then my eyes rested on Robert whose smile reached his eyes and lit up his whole face, a smile I'd never seen on his face before. _I wonder? Could he really have done all this...? _I thought to myself

_Wonder what? Who's done what? _Lissa said from behind me.

_Eavesdropping again Liss?_ _I'll tell you later....._

_You'd better! _I smiled and continued to say hello to everyone. There were a lot more people here than were even at the church. A lot of Royals that I knew by sight, they were all treating me like I was one of them.... someone whose wedding was to be celebrated by all.... Again I looked at Robert and he still had the same expression. I looked at him with narrowed eyes and shook my head; I knew he'd played a part with this, now I just had to see if he'd admit to it. Obviously reading what was going through my head, he started to laugh and then winked at me. _I knew it. _"Dimitri, I'll be right back, I need to talk to Robert." He nodded to me and continued shaking hands with everyone.

"How did you accomplish it?" I asked him.

"Accomplish what Rosemarie?"

"I would have thought by now you'd realised that I can work you out. How did you get everyone to accept this?" He bent forward; wrapping his arms around my shoulders and kissed my cheek.

"I once told you that you literally saved my life when you came for me, and that I'd never forget it. I think this is the least I can do for you, after all, what's a life worth?"

"Yours? A lot." I was very close to Robert, I loved him a lot. He was more than _just_ a friend, almost like a father, but somehow....more. I owed him my life because without him, I wouldn't have Dimitri or this baby, I wouldn't be married, and I wouldn't have _this_ life... I would do anything for this man. "Save me a dance?" He smiled as he nodded.

"Shouldn't I be asking _you_ that? But you'll be the first on my dance card Rose. Oh, by the way, I got a phone call from Guardian Montague just before sundown and Yelena is on her way; she should be here by lunch time tomorrow." He looked behind me and smiled, "But you need to go right now, you have people to meet and greet. And I think your husband wants you back." I smiled as I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and grabbed the skirt of my dress; I loved hearing that word when it applied to Dimitri and walked back to my 'husband'... In the next half hour, I'd lost count of how many "Thank you's" we'd said and my cheeks were starting to hurt from the constant smiling. Everyone took their seats, and to my dismay, Queen Bitch sat at my table. Lissa had organised an amazing menu; one that I didn't have to guess what anything was... I normally went home hungry from those events, and then Dimitri and I went to take our first dance together as a married couple.

"Just keep your body close to mine Lastochka." He whispered in my ear. I knew how to do a lot of things, but dancing wasn't one of them; Dimitri on the other hand excelled....as usual. The music started and the rest of the room disappeared, it was just me and Dimitri. The next thing I knew, I felt someone tapping me on the shoulder, I turned away from his eyes to look up to my father.

"May I cut in?" Dimitri nodded and then walked in the direction of his mother. "You look absolutely radiant Rose. I can't believe I'm looking at the same girl...._woman_ that I found in Baia."

"Thank you dad. You're looking pretty hot yourself you know." He grinned.

"Yeah, it's a curse....but then someone has to be this good looking I suppose." I couldn't help but laugh...we really were two peas in a pod.

"That's true; after all...anyone who had me for a daughter must be pretty hot!" Just then I happened to see Dimitri dancing with Tasha and as stupid as it was, all my insecurities flared up again. Dimitri looked a little tense and Tasha's face looked....weird. I could feel the jealousy tugging in my chest. My father felt me stiffen and followed my line of sight. I looked up at him and he had his eyebrow raised in question. "I just don't trust her; I wouldn't be surprised if at this very moment, she was trying to talk him out of this marriage." Just then I thought that with her compulsion ability, she could very well do that.

"Do you want me to go break up the party...?" I didn't say anything straight away while I thought about it, so he took that as an answer, he nodded and let my hand go. "I won't have my girl feeling bad on her big day." He said. As I stood there watching him walk over to Tasha & Dimitri I smelt the familiar mix of alcohol and clove cigarettes in front of me.

"You're looking a little green there, Little Dhampir." I turned to look into Adrians knowing smile.

"Who me? Never...." I could tell he was looking at my aura, so he knew exactly what I was feeling at the moment. "Well, maybe a little." He shook his head as he held out his hand.

"Can I have this dance?" I nodded and instantly felt better. The anger was still there, but not as bad. "It had to happen you know Little Dhampir..."

"What?"

"You go 'off the market' and I get swamped with girls batting their eyelids at me..." seeing my expression he smiled and continued. "I was talking to Vikki before and Mia walked up to me and wrapped her arms around my waist and kissed me. Apparently she missed me; her aura was a little...colorful too."

"Mia kissed you? Well, then...that must have been....nice for you." I said with a smirk. I'd ask him more about Mia later, for now I had other things on my mind. "Adrian? Have you spoken to Tasha today?"

"Only a little, why?" I didn't like to be the jealous type, but I didn't trust her. He looked over my shoulder to where I knew they were for a few seconds and then looked back to me.

"I don't know their conversation just before looked a little strained." He looked back to them for a few seconds and then glanced at me. "What? Can you hear what they're saying?"

"No." I could tell by his face he was lying. I was almost going to pull him up on it when he continued to speak. "Dimitri's aura tells me he's not all that happy, _her_ aura's a little messed up though.... Do you want me to ask what her intentions are?" I screwed my face up at him, but decided not to let her affect my wedding. I shook my head to clear it and then concentrated on dancing. At the end of our second dance, I felt Adrian stiffen slightly and I looked up to see him looking over my shoulder again.

"May I have my wife back now?" said Dimitri. His tone was not all that nice; nor the look he was giving him, and I could see that getting him to accept Adrian in Vikki's life was not going to be easy. Adrian nodded and then smiled at me.

"Thanks for the dance Rose." He gave a small bow and walked away. I looked up at Dimitri as he pulled me into his embrace.

"That wasn't very nice." I said to him as we danced, but he just shrugged. I couldn't help but smile a little as I once again saw jealousy in his eyes. "By the way, would you tell me the truth if I asked what Tasha was saying to you?" He tried very hard to hold onto his blank face, but I knew him way too well. "Yeah.... Just as I thought. Let me guess.... She spoke of.....what your wedding would have been like if you'd married her. Or....that there was still time to back out of this..." I held up my hand with my wedding band and wiggled it in front of him. He just looked into my eyes and said nothing... I was really starting to hate Tasha Ozera.

"She might have said things along those lines." He admitted. "But I set her straight. I told her that I was exactly where I wanted to be."

"I'm happy to hear that, but what lines did she speak about?"

"That she and I were closer in age and our relationship wouldn't run into any interference from the Moroi, not like yours and mine would." I was so mad I really felt like going and smacking that pretty little head of hers clean off her shoulders. But then I reminded myself that I wasn't going to let her ruin my wedding, so I took a deep breath and smiled at him.

"Too bad, you're mine now. And everyone knows how stubborn I am; I'm not letting you go now I've got you." He smiled that beautiful smile that reached his eyes and melted my heart.

"Well that's good to hear." Then he kissed me softly. Even though we'd eaten, I was still hungry, but I knew _this_ hunger....it wasn't for food. I nuzzled into the crook of his neck and he smelt so good, his aftershave that I loved so much smothered me. I made a mental note to go talk to the new doctor about the cravings, they were getting stronger.


	26. Drama, Drama, Drama!

**Okay, part 2 of the reception... One more part to go... As I said, lots happen at this reception, I couldn't believe how big this chapter ended up, so I had to split it up.... sorry.  
Thanks for the reveiws everyone! They're great. Keep them coming.  
Sandy**

**Chapter Twenty-six**

Drama, Drama, Drama!

The night went pretty smooth after that....for a while; I danced with nearly every male here... Robert included. Lissa had danced a little, but she was nearly at the end of the pregnancy so she sat down a lot. My feet were killing me by this point and my back hurt, so I went to sit at the table with Dimitri's family.

"Rose, this is a wonderful wedding." Said Olena.

"Yeah, it is pretty special." I said tired. I looked at Yeva and saw that familiar look on her face....the one that said she'd had another dream and didn't know if she was going to tell me what it was. "Okay...spill it." I said lifting my eyebrows at her.

"I didn't have a dream... Just a feeling.... Ah....I think the puppet is here." _What? _

"What's that mean?"

"Remember I said that there was someone who could give you the answers, but she was a puppet.... well I think she's here." The words of Yeva's dream echoed in my head... _There's one who holds the answers to it all, Rose... She is unaware of her puppeteer; she will try to steer you into the waiting arms of death. _Shivers ran down my spine as I looked around at the people around me, people I knew, people I didn't know...a puppet would only be of any worth, if she actually knew me well enough to do her puppeteers bidding, so I discounted those I didn't know... but that still left a lot of candidates. I knew it wouldn't be Lissa or Oksana, they'd know it if anyone tried messing with their heads. Still too many options... A certain scarred, raven haired beauty popped into my mind....

"Mama, not here." Said Olena.

"No, it's alright Olena." I said. Then I turned to the old Russian with a smile... "I trust you Yeva; you still don't know who it is though?" She shook her head as she looked away in thought. I turned to the dance floor to see Dimitri dancing with the Queen.... A slow smile spread on my face as I thought about how much he'd be enjoying himself...._NOT_! I snickered under my breath and shook my head. The song ended and then he let her go and bowed so I got up and started to walk over to him as he waited until she walked away. Another song had started and then he turned around and smiled as he saw me. Then he glanced to my right and saw Adrian and Vikki dancing...._very_ closely and _very_ intimately. In an instant I saw his face change.... his eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched, then I looked down to see his hands ball tightly into fists. _Shit! _I tried to run, which was not easy in this dress.

As I reached him, I put my hands on his face. "Dimitri. Stop!" I said through my teeth, but it was too late, I could already feel the heat radiating through his shirt. I reached up and pulled his eyes away from Adrian... "Look at me.... not here, please....not here." His breathing was deep and ragged and I could see him trying to gain control. His body shook, his muscles were like rocks and his face....it burned with emotion.

"Get... him... out of...here..._now_." He growled through clenched teeth. I nodded but never took my eyes of his.

_Lissa! Quickly.... get Adrian out of here! Please... NOW! At least get him away from Vikki. _

_What? Oh Crap! Coming...._

"Lissa's coming. Just keep looking at me... just me." My hands were still on his face so I reached up on my toes and pulled him into a kiss, I had to take his mind off Adrian.... As I kissed him I turned him around so he now had his back to where Lissa was taking Adrian and Vikki. I could feel him getting cooler but I could see out of the corner of my eyes that everyone had seen Dimitri lose control. People were whispering and some were even backing away....afraid.

"I'm sorry Roza," he said, shame filling his beautiful eyes, "I didn't mean to lose control like that. I've ruined your day." I smiled as I shook my head.

"Are you kidding? You just stood up in front of all of our family and friends _and_ the Queen... and not only admitted that you love me, you also told anyone who would listen that I am yours and you are mine; that is something that I've wanted to hear ever since I knew I loved you. _Nothing_ you could ever do or say could ruin this day. Now smile and kiss me again hot stuff." He smiled softly as he shook his head and I'm pleased to say that he did exactly what I told him to do...for once.

_Has he calmed down? Is it safe for them to come back? _Asked Lissa....

_Yeah, I think so, but just ask them to tone it down a little for now please..._

_Okay, but I thought I'd let you know that Vikki seems a little pissed.... _Great! Just what I need....another pissed off Russian.

"They're coming back inside, alright." I warned him. He took a deep breath and nodded. "Just remember all those lessons you tried to teach me about self control." I couldn't help but smirk.... just a little. Now I was the one giving him the Zen life lesson on controlling himself... He smiled and lifted me up off the ground. I loved being able to look directly into his eyes.... he dropped his face into my neck and breathed in deep; which might I say sent a shock wave of goosebumps to cover my entire body, but I couldn't exactly make out in front of everyone so I pulled myself together. "Wanna go outside for a bit?" I asked. He nodded and put me back down and then put an arm around my waist as we walked outside into the courtyard. It was beautiful out here; winter was nearly upon us and the air was quite cold but the sky was clear and you could see millions of stars... We stood facing each other with our arms locked around our waists. "We actually did it, we're married." I said in an almost whisper. He looked at me with so much love, my heart skipped a beat.

"We most certainly did Roza. You're stuck with me now." I rolled my eyes as I shook my head.

"How will I endure it...?" I said mockingly as I put the back of my hand on my forehead. He snickered slightly at my wisecrack...

"Oh, I plan on fully exercising your endurance levels, starting tonight. You're going to be amazed with how much you'll learn to endure by the time I'm finished with you." The wicked look in his eyes set me on fire, and I was just about to drag him into the bushes where I could have my way with him when we heard someone coming up behind us. I begrudgingly tore my eyes away from Dimitri and turned to see Rhonda and Ambrose coming towards us. I didn't know if they'd heard or seen what had just gone on between us, but they didn't say anything.

"I just wanted to say congratulations to you both." Said Rhonda as they approached us. "I'm glad to see you are back with us Dimitri, it pained me deeply when Rose came to see me last time." She kept looking between us like she wanted to say more. "Rose... I did a reading before I came and wondered if you wanted to know what I saw in the cards." My hand instinctively tightened around Dimitri's, unlike Yeva's visions/dreams, Rhonda's never felt good, nor did they have good endings, I most certainly didn't like the ending of Dimitri's reading she gave him. I didn't know if I really wanted to know or not. He looked down to me wondering why I reacted the way I did, but I'm afraid to say curiosity got the better of me.

"Yeah sure, why not." I said and she nodded in response.

"You _will_ find what you're after, your hunt will be successful. I saw a large home, a familiar home where spirit once lived. Your prey hides in the trees." Well it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but I still had Yeva's little warning thingy swimming in my head, now this....my head was beginning to hurt. Just then I saw Lissa and Adrian running towards us, they looked at me with the same expression on both their faces, which also happened to mirror Lissa's feelings. Confusion, slight fear... Dimitri must have seen their faces too as he pushed me slightly behind his body, then both Lissa and Adrian were at my side looking at Rhonda.

"What's going on?" I asked them both. They just stared at Rhonda like she had two heads or something, but it was Adrian who spoke first.

"There is something wrong with her aura."

_Really_ _wrong._ Said Lissa through the bond. _I've never seen anything like that before._

"I think you need to leave, both of you." Adrian said, Rhonda narrowed her eyes but didn't look like she was going to move. "_Now_." Adrian said with more royal authority in his voice than I'd heard in a long time. I saw Dimitri look at Adrian and Lissa; then back to Rhonda and then he straightened himself up into guardian mode and put himself in between Adrian and Rhonda.

"You were asked to leave ma'am, if you need help finding your way to the front door, I will gladly escort you both." Rhonda looked at Dimitri; then at me before speaking to Adrian.

"I'm sorry if I upset you; that was not my intention. Rose, Dimitri.... again, I'm glad that you have both found your way back to each other." Ambrose just stood there shocked and tense, as was I... neither of us knowing what had just happened.

_Rose, there is something seriously wrong with her, move back._ Said Lissa silently. I did what she asked as I could feel what she felt, but I wanted to know what she was seeing, so I slipped into her head. Lissa was still looking at Rhonda's aura as she and Ambrose walked away but I was confused with what I saw. Rhonda's aura was a mixture of colors, more so than most people, but it had black in it and was broken in places especially around her head, but the weirdest thing was... it was hard to describe... it was like her essence was leaking out through the breaks and sparks of white would flare up all over her, like little electric shocks. It was the weirdest thing I'd ever seen. Suddenly I was looking back at myself being shaken by Dimitri... Oh! I snapped back into my own head at looked at him and then at Lissa and Adrian.

"What was wrong with her? I've never seen anyone's aura like that before." I said. They all looked at me with open mouths until they realised that I'd been looking through Lissa's eyes.

"I don't know. I've never seen anything like that either and I've seen a lot of aura's." Said Adrian, I could tell he was upset by what he saw, but tried to not show it too much.

"How did you know something was wrong?" Dimitri asked Adrian.

"I was talking to Lissa when we saw them come out here. I only got a glimpse of her aura before they went through the doorway. I felt uneasy so we decided to see where they were going and then we saw what her aura really looked like. It was different from when I saw her at the church. As I said, I've seen a lot of auras and it didn't take me long to get to know good from bad, and _that" _he said pointing to where Rhonda had gone, "_....._was bad."

I could see Dimitri thinking about what had just happened and then he looked at me and said, "Thank you Adrian." Dimitri said sincerely. All three of us were waiting to see if he'd say anything else, but he didn't, so Adrian just nodded.

"I will always protect my friends Dimitri, any way I can." He said. "Come on Cousin, you need to sit down and rest." I'd become so used to keeping up the barriers to her emotions, I reached out to her to see if she was alright, after all she only had a couple of months to go and she was getting big now. Adrian was right, she was tired but she was a little shaken with what had just transpired, and I knew that she would be trying to work out what was wrong with Rhonda's aura. We followed them back inside and went to do the cake cutting thing.... Tatiana came up to us to say her goodbyes and well wishes and her 'followers' did the same.


	27. The Long Awaited Confrontation

**Okay... Last chapter from the reception... and one that I know a lot of you wanted.... :-D See, I do listen to your views. LOL I hope you enjoy it...  
It's not a very big chapter, as I put this in after some of your reviews, it would have happened eventually, but I thought I'd put it in now... So here 'tis!!!  
Don't forget..... Review, review, review.... :-D  
Sandy**

**Chapter Twenty-Seven**

The Long Awaited Confrontation.

I was busting to go to the ladies room, but I needed a hand, so Lissa joined me. I soon found out that it wasn't easy to get into one of the cubicles in my dress so Liss tried her best to help.... what came after that was almost comical. To someone on the outside, we must have looked hilarious... A nearly full term pregnant '_with_ twins' woman in a three foot wide toilet cubicle with another woman in a huge billowing wedding dress. It was like a giant marshmallow had exploded and had started to bleed; Lissa's red dress was half smothered in the skirt of my dress.

"Rose..." Lissa said in fits of laughter... "You're going to have to go back out and then back in."

"What! Are you serious?" I couldn't help but laugh. "I'm not going to back in like some semi-trailer..."

"Rose.... OW!.... Stop pushing.... I can't.....back up anymore.... I'll fall into the toilet!" tears were falling down our cheeks... "Oh God... Don't make me laugh anymore... please! I'll pee myself!"

"Liss....... If I don't sit down soon....I'll pee where....I'm standing...." My stomach was killing me from laughing so much.

"Hang on.... don't pee yet! Let me lift.... Rose! You're standing on my foot!"

"Liss, don't you _dare!_..." I squealed as I grabbed her hand. "I can pull my own underpants down thank you very much." I could just imagine what people would think if they could hear us....

"I'll hold your dress, you pull them down then." I looked at her and neither of us did anything for about five seconds and then we both just burst out laughing again. "Hurry up Rose; all this laughing has made me want to go now..." I sat down and sighed...

"Oh man...I needed this... I've been holding on for hours." Lissa screwed up her nose at me but I didn't care, my relief was bliss...

"Do you need me to wait or can I go now?"

"No, I'm finished, you can go." I said with a smirk... "Unless of course you'd like to clean me up."

"That's gross Rose." I started to get up so she opened the door and slipped out backwards as she couldn't turn around. Then I heard her gasp softly.

"What's wrong Liss?" She didn't answer straight away so I quickly slipped into her head. _Tasha._ I finished what I was doing and opened the door. I didn't want to face her just yet... but here she was, doing her damnedest to spoil my good mood.

"Tasha." I said with a slight nod. No matter what I thought of her, she _was_ royal.

"Rose." She said. Then she turned to Lissa. "Lissa, would you mind if I had a private word to Rose please?" Liss looked to me with a worried but determined face. I knew she wouldn't leave if I didn't want her to.

_Do you want me to leave? Do you want me to get Dimitri?_

_No, I'll be fine. I promise I won't hurt her. But only send him in if you hear crashing though... _

_At the first sign of trouble Rose...do you understand me? Okay.... _Liss turned back to Tasha and nodded, then walked outside. We both watched her leave and then Tasha turned back to me.

"That was a beautiful ceremony Rose." I nodded to her as I walked over to the basin to wash my hands. "You're a very lucky woman to have someone as wonderful as Dimitri." I looked up at her in the mirror.

"You say that like it's some sort of miracle that he _chose_ me." My choice of words let her know that I knew about her offer to him and what he decided. She looked down at her hands, thinking about what she was going to say next. _Think carefully before you open your mouth Tasha _I thought to myself. "So you know?" She asked me.

"Yes, we have no secrets. Why did you come today Tasha? And what did you say Dimitri when you were dancing with him?" She looked up at me then.

"I came because I didn't believe that he was marrying you for the right reasons. I thought he turned me down because he didn't think he was worthy enough to be with me." There she went again.... like I wasn't good enough for him, like I was his second choice.... I fought to keep my cool.

"So, it never crossed your mind that he was marrying me because he _wanted_ to? It never crossed your mind that he turned down your offer because he loved _me_ and not you." I shook my head, fury starting to build.

"No. It didn't. When I was dancing with him, I asked him if this was what he really wanted, that my offer was still open." I closed my eyes desperately trying to stay calm...if I didn't, Liss would go get Dimitri and then all hell would break loose.

"And do you have your answers now?" I asked, she nodded so I continued, "And do you believe him yet?"

"I believe that he _thinks_ he loves you." I couldn't believe that she actually said that and at that point I couldn't take anymore. I walked over to her so that I now stood a couple of inches away from her face.

"You have _no_ idea what we share and I don't give a _shit_ if you're royal or not. I've held my tongue up until now out of respect for your friendship with Dimitri, but no more. I'm telling you now that if you _dare_ speak to my husband while not in the presence of another person again, I will gladly give you a matching scar for the other side of your face. Do I make myself perfectly clear?" My voice almost growled as I said this to her through clenched teeth, and every word dripped with threat. Her jaw tightened and then she swallowed as she nodded. "Don't push me Tasha, I will not let you or anyone else interfere with my relationship with Dimitri. I walked through _hell_ to get him back, and I will fight the devil _himself_ to keep him." I stared at her for another few seconds for good measure and then picked up the sides of my dress to leave.

"He will tire of you Rose." She said from behind me. "You're too immature for him. Out in the real world, it won't take long for him to see that, and I'll be here waiting." That was all I could handle.... I spun around and punched her. The crunch under my fist told me that I'd broken her nose and then the pouring blood confirmed it. Blood... _Oh God! _My temper was replaced with the mouth watering craving for blood... I started to walk towards her, only seeing, smelling, wanting the blood when someone grabbed my arm.

_Rose.... Come on... _I snapped out of my haze and turned to see Lissa's face. She pulled me outside, away from the smell that I craved... "_Wow_! Remind me never to get on _your_ bad side Rose." She said. "You were _so_ scary!"

"Where you just in my...?" She nodded with a sheepish look on her face. Then I knew that she must have felt my desire for the blood too, but she didn't say anything.

"I didn't want to have to get Dimitri unless I had to, so I peeked." She came and placed her hand over my heart and I felt the familiar hot and cold flushes of spirit as she healed my dark feelings. It did help, but not completely.

"Don't say anything to Dimitri." I asked. "He'll only worry and plus, I don't want to let _her_ put a dampener on my big day." She nodded but looked like she wanted to say more. "What?" I asked her.

"Well, if you don't want Dimitri to know, then I'm going to have to go heal her." I knew she was right, but at least I'd finally got to smack her in the face... something I'd dreamt of doing for a long time. I nodded and she went back into the bathroom, I didn't want to feel that wonderful feeling I got from Liss when she healed so I put up some more barriers. When she came out she looked angry and I wondered what I'd missed. "She tried to blame _you_." She said, obviously knowing what I was thinking. "I let her know that I'd seen everything and not to try that angle again." Then she took my arm and led me back towards the reception. She knew I would talk about what happened when I was ready, so she laughingly brought up our 'toilet fiasco' as we walked. It didn't take too long for us to be in raptures again and then I saw Dimitri walked up to us with a big smile.

"I was getting worried; I thought you might have fallen in." Liss and I glanced at each other and started laughing again. It was only about half an hour after that that Dimitri and I left. Apparently Lissa and Christian had organised a small villa on the outer edge of the Court grounds for us to stay in for a couple of days. I didn't want a reoccurrence of the French debacle so we would 'honeymoon' here on safe ground.


	28. Honeymoons: Lifes Sweet Rewards

**Alrighty then.... here is the new chapter. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it. :-D **

**Sandy**

**Chapter Twenty-Eight**

Honeymoons: Life's Sweet Reward

"Have a good night you two." Said Christian with a smirk. "By the way, the number for the fire brigade is on the bedside table, be sure to give them a call won't you!" I glanced over and saw Lissa hit him in the shoulder.

"Don't you worry your pretty little head Sparky; there won't be a fire tonight, just fireworks. And remember, if you ever need any pointers I'll gladly write them down for you." I shot back. He just stood there smiling; Lissa just shook her head. I don't know why she tried to stop us; she knew we had too much fun to stop our bickering now... I stood by the limo after all the kisses and well wishes from our friends and family and look at Liss to forewarn her... _By the way Liss, I'd make sure your barriers are up if you don't want to get more than you bargained for...just remember, you always wanted the bond to go both ways. Don't say I didn't warn you! _We'd see them all tomorrow anyway, as we were both desperate to talk to Yelena when she got here; there was a lot that we wanted to know.

The car pulled up to a wonderful little villa that overlooked a park that I didn't even know existed here at Court, apparently it was the Queen's private little 'get away'. As Dimitri got the overnight bag that Liss had packed us, the guardian went to open the door for us....a little odd, but anyway..... We said our goodbyes to him as he handed us the keys and I looked up to my husband, (I smiled every time I thought of him that way) who obviously had the same thoughts as I did. He scooped me up into his arms and I kissed his neck as he carried me over the threshold, into the open living room. He just stood there with me in his arms; our mouths both open, Lissa had really been busy over the last couple of days.

The villa was beautifully decorated but now the room had candles of all shapes and sizes that sat on every flat surface there was. There was a fire going in the fireplace and a huge furry rug in front of it. Beside the rug was a platter of fruits and cheeses and a bottle of French champagne. She'd thought of everything. "Hmm, this looks nice." He said. I really wasn't in the mood for cheese or alcohol and I guess my face said everything that needed to be said. "Or not...." I laughed under my breath but kept silent. Without taking his eyes off me, he walked into the bedroom, how he knew where he was going without looking I didn't know or cared really....

He put me on my feet and looked deep into my eyes and smiled. He bent down and kissed me so softly, I could feel myself turning to mush... I wrapped my arms around his neck and deepened the kiss; I wanted him so much right now. I could feel him smile against my lips so I pulled back to look at him and ask what was funny, but he spoke first. "Why the rush Lastochka? We have all night, and I plan on remembering every second of it." A small smile played on his lips as he took me by the shoulders and turned me around. I wondered why at first but then he started kissing my shoulders and the back of my neck as he slowly unzipped my dress. I closed my eyes and revelled in his touch as it slid down my body to fall at my feet and his hands went to my waist. He turned me back around to face him and he looked down with a smile at my white lacy underwear that Liss had bought especially for today.

Looking between his eyes and the shirt that was between us I reached my hands up and undid the buttons.....slowly. I contemplated just ripping it open, but I undid one button at a time and kissed his chest in between each one. When I got to the last button I slid my hands up his body and pushed his shirt over his amazing shoulders letting it fall behind him. I continued staring into his eyes as I traced my fingers down towards his belt, his stomach twitching as they tickled his skin. I unbuckled the belt and then released the clasp of his pants and then finding the zip, I slowly pulled it down. I could feel his desire against my hand and a small smile played on my lips. I slid my fingers into the waist of his suit pants and boxers and pushed them down over his hips. Without taking my eyes away from his; my hands again found their way up his body, and knotted into his hair. I pulled his face down to me; crushing his lips to mine, and then I pressed my body into his...hard. He broke the kiss then lifted me up and walked around to the side of the bed. While keeping me in his extraordinarily strong arms, he placed me in the centre and positioned himself above me. My blood surged through my veins as my want and need for him increased. He bent down and kissed my mouth then moved to my jaw, my neck and my chest.

"Dimitri..." I whispered. He put a finger on my lips and smiled. He continued down to my bare stomach and kissed the little bump that was now not quite so little. I was going to have a heart attack if he didn't start something soon, so I reached up and grabbed his face and kissed him with the same passion that I craved from him. He took the opportunity while my back was no longer on the bed to unclasp my bra which was thrown across the room and then he ran his fingers up my spine; my body shook with the shivers he caused and I let out a soft moan. He laid me back onto the bed kissing my lips softly at first, and then his tongue played against them asking for entry; which I gladly granted. He gently pulled on my bottom lip with his teeth and made his way to my neck and shoulder... My heart beat like a drum in my chest as his mouth made its way to each breast; one hand tickled its way down my side and hooked into my underwear. Slowly he pushed them down, too slowly actually, and he giggled as I sped up the process.

"Slow down my love, I have a big night planned." He whispered in my ear. I let out a moan as I realised he wasn't finished teasing me... He went back to kissing my body now that there was nothing in his way. He kissed me everywhere, and I do mean everywhere.... I was almost losing my mind when he lifted himself back above me and gave my body the release it was craving. As he entered me, I could no longer contain myself....

"_HOLY_ _SHIT_!" I yelled... My body immediately exploded in the most amazing orgasm I've ever had... My body was on fire, but my mind focused solely on the sensations pulsating through my core, goosebumps covered me from head to toe as I gripped the sheets in both hands, unfortunately for the sheets, they didn't make it.... I heard ripping, but it didn't really register, I just let them go and I dug my fingers into Dimitri's back as ripples of pleasure kept surging through me. "Ohhh....my....God.....!" I moaned in pleasure. My mind cleared and I looked into his smouldering eyes. I wrapped my legs around his waist and pulled him deeper into me; my hands tangled in his beautiful hair as I kept his lips moulded to mine. He reached down cupping my butt in his hands and his thrusts got faster and faster and his body shook as he finally had his release.

"Oh....." he moaned in pleasure. "I love you so much Roza." He whispered against my lips. He laid on top of me breathing heavily but shifted slightly so the he wasn't completely on my stomach and we laid together in complete bliss as our breathing and heart rates settled down. He kissed me again and then moved his body onto the bed beside me resting on his elbow, and then traced circles with his fingers all over my naked body. "I don't think I will ever get enough of you." He said with so much love in his eyes.

"That was...." I said with a slight laugh, "without a doubt, the most amazing experience of my life." A huge smile spread across his face. "But if you ever make me wait like that again, I may have to punish you...severely." He bent forward putting his forehead against my chest while he laughed deeply. Then he looked up mischievously at me.

"You already did Roza." I lifted my eyebrows at him; I had no idea what he was talking about. Then he sat up and twisted so that I could see his back.

"Oh my God!" I gasped. "I'm so sorry; I didn't mean to be.... quite _that_ rough." I touched the scratches that I'd gouged into his skin and he winced slightly at the touch. He turned around smiling at me and winked.

"Did I say I minded? I'll wear them as a badge of honour." I went to get up so that I could clean him up a little, but he just pulled me back into his arms.

"I need to...."

"No, you don't." He interrupted. "I am not letting you out of my arms tonight." Then I thought of something....

"Okay, but I could really do with a shower, wanna join me?" I asked. We got up and spent the next half an hour or so admiring each other's bodies. I even got to clean up his back a little, but I couldn't help but cringe when the water stung as it washed the blood away. After that we went out to enjoy our cheese and fruits and to polish off the bottle of Champagne. I don't know how he did it, but he made even the simple task of eating and drinking sexy, too sexy actually and I had my way with him again. It really was an amazing night, one I most certainly wouldn't forget in a hurry. We finally went to sleep, but for me, it didn't last all that long. I woke up suddenly and looked over to my sleeping husband. He was a stunning man at any time of the day, but when he slept, his guardian mask was gone and he was breathtaking. I slipped out from the sheets and went outside to sit on the deck in the sunshine. There was a beautiful outdoor setting here with big cushions, so I sat back and went through everything that was keeping me awake:

Tasha....I really don't know how I didn't do more damage to her face; my self control must definitely be improving. I would tell Dimitri, but just not yet, I wanted to enjoy my honeymoon. Yeva & Rhonda's words also swirled around in my head.

"_You will find what you're after. Your hunt will be successful. I saw a large home, a familiar home where spirit once lived. Your prey hides in the trees."_

Obviously Rhonda thinks I will find Mrs Karp... but I didn't know what 'large home' she was referring to. I'd only just moved out here and I certainly wasn't familiar with any homes here... especially any where spirit once..... "Then again....she couldn't mean...?" I whispered to myself. _Could_ she be referring to....? But then Yeva's warning sprung to mind.....

"_There's one who holds the answers to it all, Rose... She is unaware of her puppeteer; she will try to steer you into the waiting arms of death..... _

Tasha was again the first to come to mind, for obvious reasons. She was the only person I could think of at the moment who would want me dead, even 'profit' from my death... she'd be waiting with open arms to comfort Dimitri over his loss....and she was definitely close enough to us for someone to manipulate her for their own gains. Another possibility was Queen Bitch! She had a multitude of reasons to want me out of the picture.... She'd gotten over her delusion about Adrian and me finally, but she still didn't like me and she was in the perfect position to send me wherever the hell she wanted to. Then I remembered Yeva giving a clue to the name of the 'puppeteer' as she called her...

"_All I get is a river going through a valley of the same name. Welsh... "_

I had no idea who this could be; maybe I could Google it.... I'd have to write down all the women's names that were at the reception and see what their names meanings were. I was looking out over the pond; deep in thought, not really looking at anything in particular, I was going to give myself a headache just trying to work it all out. I closed my eyes and lent forward putting my head in my hands, exasperated that I couldn't make sense of it all, I lifted my head and found myself staring into Dimitri's face. I smiled and closed the inch distance between our faces.

"Good morning my beautiful wife." He said smiling. "Care to explain _why_ you are sitting out here in the cold when you could be warm in my arms in bed?"

"I couldn't sleep, sorry if I woke you." I said standing up. "Come on." I said with a smile. I walked into the villa and heard him shut the doors behind me. I _was_ feeling a little cold, so I thought I'd take up his offer. I made my way back into the bed, but before I could get there; he already was! That speed was something I'd have to get used to. Climbing into his embrace, I instantly felt my body start to relax.

"Now, tell me what kept you awake my love." I looked at him and he raised one eyebrow. He wasn't going to let me get out of it, but I didn't want to tell him about my run in with Tasha, not yet, so I told him about Yeva and Rhonda's 'visions'..... After going through it all, he said that we'd have to talk to the others to see if they had any idea what the reading and vision could mean. Yelena was going to be here at lunch time and I wanted to speak to Lissa first so I went to have a shower while Dimitri went to make me some breakfast; as normal, I was starving..... I had hoped that he would have joined me, but he didn't. I got out of the shower and went back into the bedroom wrapped in a towel. I peeked outside and saw him fussing around in the kitchen; I couldn't see what he was cooking as he had his back to me. He only had his boxers on and I found it difficult to take my eyes off him; each sculptured muscle clearly defined as they wrapped around his torso, his arms..._Oh God, those arms...._I bit my lip as I imagined those arms wrapping around me. I could feel my heart beat a little faster and my mind wandered off to think of things I'd like to do with him, when he spoke up.

"If you're just going to stand there staring, then you should probably come and eat." How did he know I was here, I hadn't made a sound.... He finally turned his head and looked at me over his shoulder with a knowing grin.

"I can hear your ever increasing heartbeat Roza, _and_ I could smell you as soon as you got out of the bathroom." All I did was smile..... and in a split second he was standing in front of me. "You have a very distinct heartbeat, did you know that?"

"Nope, can't say I did."

"Well you do... And now," he said as he undid the towel that was wrapped around me; it fell to the floor, and then he placed his hand on my stomach. "It's even more distinct when combined with our child's heartbeat."

"You can hear our baby?" I asked in amazement. His face lit up with the most beautiful smile, the one that reached his eyes.

"Yeah. It's so strong.......she's a strong one that's for sure." _Wait....did he say 'she'? _I thought to myself. Seeing me pick up on his choice of words, he shook his head. "Only wishful thinking maya krasaveetsa. I don't know if we're having a girl or a boy.... but I think it would be great to have another _you_ around." I nearly laughed out loud when he said that.

"You're kidding, right? Another me? Are you sure the world is ready for a mini me? I know of a few people that would probably disagree with you there hot stuff." His hands had moved from my stomach and were now on my hips, he was now looking at me the same way I'd just been looking at him and suddenly a memory flashed through my mind....one I couldn't resist in repeating... "See something you like?" He couldn't help but laugh again...

"I most certainly do..." And then breakfast was forgotten for a while... It took some time to accomplish, but we were soon clothed, fed and on our way back to meet up with Lissa and the others. I got the shock of my life when I saw what Lissa had packed for me....maybe Adrian had helped her pick out some of the stuff, it was pretty raunchy.... I smiled as I pulled out a very sexy looking blood red baby doll negligee... I know we had a lot going on at the moment, but there's no need for something like this to go to waste. I put it on under a beautiful red dress she'd also bought for me. Before we'd left, I'd spoken to Lissa and asked if we could meet up with everyone at her apartment. I'd told Dimitri that Adrian would be there and he had to try to control his new....power.

_Well, you look....flushed. _Lissa said through the bond when we got there.

_Yeah._.._what can I say, marriage agrees with us.... _She blushed slightly and shook her head.

"Come on, everyone's here." She said. Then she looked at Dimitri behind me and smiled and gave him a hug. _Does he know Adrian is here? _She said silently.

_Yeah, and he's promised to behave..._

We walked into the lounge room and everyone really was there.... Mia included. Lissa had told me that Mia had been hanging around Adrian like a bad smell, which was making Vikki a little cranky. Olena, Yeva, Oksana & Mark would be leaving in less than 24 hours, so they wanted to spend some time with us before they had to go. My parents planned on leaving in a few hours to go back to Dad's newly acquired mansion, which brought me back to why we were here. So, I thought I'd let everyone in on the reason for the meeting.

"Thanks for coming at such short notice guys. But it's been just over two weeks since we worked out the Mrs Karp was Viktor's partner in crime."

"What?" yelled Mia... "Mrs Karp? But she's dead....isn't she? And what's going on with Viktor?" I forgot that she wouldn't have heard about our time in France and quickly gave her a rundown of recent events.

"Anyway, a few...things, have happened that I thought you may all like to hear about. First of all, you all know that Yeva here has a certain....talent.....for seeing what may come to pass." I said while looking at her. "Before we came here, she told me that _"There's one who holds the answers to it all, she is unaware of her puppeteer; she will try to steer you into the waiting arms of death..." _that's right, isn't it Yeva?" I asked her and she nodded so I continued. "Then at the reception a Moroi I know, Rhonda her name is.... apparently she's a psychic, well she came up to me and said, _"You will find what you're after. Your hunt will be successful. I saw a large home, a familiar home where spirit once lived. Your prey hides in the trees." _I glanced at Robert as I said this, I wanted to know if he reacted to it.... but he was looking at the floor, deep in thought. There was one more piece to the puzzle so I pushed forward. "I asked Yeva if she knew who this 'puppet' was, if she had a name, but all she could see was 'a river going through a valley of the same name, and that she felt it had a Welsh meaning." I looked around to my family and friends and they each had the same look on their faces. No-one said anything at first but then my mother cleared her throat.

"Do you have any idea who the puppet is?" she asked.

"No, not really, but it could be a few people. The Queen, Tasha.... could be anyone really. But it would have to be someone close enough to me to 'steer me'...." I saw Christian's head jerk up to me as I mentioned his aunt, but I couldn't care less at the moment, not after all she's done and said.

'Could she mean my brother's place?" asked Robert. I looked over to him and smiled slightly. He'd thought the same thing as I did.

"Well, I wondered the same thing. A large home where spirit once lived.... it fits... But that would mean that she's hanging around in the woods that surround the estate. She wouldn't be able to get past the wards, so it _should_ be fairly safe." I said.

"Unless of course she has humans in her employ." Said Dimitri beside me. Just then the memory of the Badica massacre flooded my mind and shivers ran down my spine. We knew that the Strigoi were now working together like they've never done before, we also knew that humans were offered immortality if they helped them, but we knew where she'd be, and that she'd probably have an army waiting for us. Maybe being forewarned as it was, would make all the difference to the outcome if there was a major attack at the mansion. I looked at my father, and for the first time was worried for his safety.

"You can't go back there, not until she's caught." I said to him. A smile spread over his face. "I mean it."

"I know you do Kiz. But I've battled scarier Strigoi that some crazy teacher before now and I'm not exactly the sort of Moroi to run and hide from a fight, you should know that." My mother looked at him with admiration and love and then back to me.

"And plus, he'll have _me_ to protect him. _Nothing_ will come within 50 feet of him." I smiled as I knew that she was correct. There wouldn't be a Dhampir on this earth that could protect my father as ferociously as my mother. But I still didn't want them going back to the mansion yet. So now we knew where the fight would be, what we _didn't_ know yet was whose strings Sonya pulled. A lot had to be worked out and in a few short hours Yelena would be here.


	29. Jealousy It's A Curse

**Hi Everyone,  
Well, here's the next installment of my story. It will be the last one before Christmas though I'm sorry to say... I have been busy working, being sick with the flu, buying and wrapping Xmas Pressies and it hasn't left a lot of time for writing... I have a couple of chapters up my sleeve, but I won't put them up until after Christmas... Sorry!!!  
I hope you all enjoy this chapter but I'm sorry to say it does have a little bit of a cliffy at the end.... But after that..... Answers..... hehehe**

**I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and if anyone here doesn't celebrate it, then I hope you have a wonderful time anyway... LOL! Stay safe everyone  
and I'll talk again in a few days....**

**Sandy**

**Chapter Twenty-Nine**

Jealousy – It's A Curse.

"I swear Rose, if she doesn't back off, I may have to mess up her pretty little face." Said Vikki. She reminded me so much of myself, I couldn't help but smile a little.

"She's pretty harmless, plus I've seen the looks Adrian gives you, and I know for a fact that he's never looked at Mia like that..._ever_!" I don't think that convinced her though, she was still shooting daggers at my one time nemesis. I'd never seen Mia like this before...it was weird. I saw Robert walking towards me and I gave him a smile as he bent forward to kiss my cheek.

"Rosemarie, I've just had a call to say that Yelena's plane has landed early because of a tailwind or something, so I'm going to the airstrip to pick her up, I'll be back soon."

"Okay, I can't wait to meet her. I know Dimitri is looking forward to it too." He nodded and just then someone knocked at the door. I looked over to Lissa but she was deep in conversation with Oksana and Mark. "Oh well, I may as well see who that is while I let you out." I opened the door and a Guardian stood there holding a box.

"Back soon Rose." I nodded to Robert as he left and then looked back to the guardian at holding a box.

"I have a package for Princess Dragomir."

"Oh, okay." I turned and called out to her. "Liss, you have a package." She nodded and walked over to us.

"Thank you." She nodded to the guardian. He handed her the box and walked away. "Gees, they don't take long to find us do they?" she said. I thought it odd that she'd have a delivery so soon. Maybe it was a welcome gift from the Queen.... yeah right!

"Well, hurry up and open it." I said, she giggled and shook her head. We walked into the kitchen where she put the box on the counter and pulled the tape off. Her face paled, which was not an easy thing for a Moroi to do. She staggered back with her hand over her mouth and looked like she was going to puke or pass out, maybe both. "Liss... what's wrong?" I asked worried. I didn't look in the box; I was too worried she'd fall. She pointed to the box; never taking her eyes off it, so I slowly left her side and looked in. There in the bottom of the box was a dead crow.

_She's after __me__...isn't she Rose? _She asked me silently.

_It doesn't matter if she is Liss, _I said to her. I turned to face her and saw fear written all over her face. "She'll never get close enough to you." Just then I saw Dimitri and Christian walk towards us; they'd seen Lissa back out of the kitchen and saw her face.

"What's going on?" Asked Christian, his face etched in worry.

"Roza?" Dimitri asked me. I motioned to the box behind me and he walked over to look inside. He looked at me confused.

"The first time Liss ever brought anything back from the dead, after me.... it was in front of Mrs Karp and it was a crow. We didn't know at the time, but Natalie saw her do that and told Viktor. So the only other person, who would know the significance of the crow, would be Mrs Karp." Dimitri nodded and turned back to the box. He reached in and moved the bird around and then pulled out a note. I hadn't seen that in amongst the paper. By now nearly everyone was standing near us listening to what was going on. "What does it say?" I asked him.

He looked down and read it once silently to himself and then looked over to Lissa. "It says.... _Princess, at first I chose to become Strigoi to escape the torment and depression of my gift, then over time, I realised that being a former spirit user made me special for more reasons than previously thought. Normally when Moroi are awakened to this wonderful life, they lose their magic, but I didn't... Well, it's changed a little, but there is another little trick that I kept.... there are certain people in this world that are more....in tune....to the spirit world, you know..... Psychics.... well, because of this connection; it turns out that they are more receptive to my.....magic. I hope you got my message earlier. I want to show you what awaits you; I'll even make sure your best friend comes with you. Unfortunately, your uncle couldn't control himself. I thought he'd make a wonderful addition to our world, but I was wrong. I can't wait to see you again. Sonya." _He looked at me with sad eyes, eyes that were now remembering thoughts he fought desperately to keep locked away. He folded up the note and walked up to me. "I need to let the other guardians know about this so that they can prepare. I'll be back soon." He bent down and gave me a quick kiss.

"Do you want me to come with you?" I asked. He shook his head and walked to the door. As he walked through it I turned to my mother, I didn't need to say anything to her, she seemed to know, she just nodded and walked to the door and followed him out.

**Janine's Point Of View.**

I was sitting talking to Abe when a knock came to the door, I was about to ask the princess if she wanted me to get it when I saw Rosemarie and Mr Doru walking towards the door. I turned back to Abe and continued our conversation. "Are you really going to get into an argument with Rosemarie over this?" I asked him. He was determined to go to the mansion instead of staying here at Court.

"Janine, I've never hidden from danger my entire life, I'm not going to start now. She'll just have to deal with it." I raised my eyebrows and smiled at the thought. I knew my daughter well, more than he did and if he thought that Rose would 'deal with it' well.....then I would just sit back and enjoy the fireworks.

""Liss, you have a package." I heard Rose say. The princess stood up and went to the door. I recognised the guardian at the door; I'd actually worked with him in Rome a few years back; not all that bright really, but a fairly decent guy. I saw Rose and Lissa walk into the kitchen so I turned back to talk to Oksana.

"Do you think that everything will be alright with Dimitri, you know... with this new fire thing he's got happening?"

"Well, it's something that he's going to have to work to control. Moroi are born with their magic and as children the power is only weak so we learn at a very young age how to control it; as it grows so do we. By the looks of things, because he is adult, he has adult strength magic but he hasn't had the years of experience in controlling it. I would think that it would be quite an....unsettling experience, especially with having the fire element. You would know what I'm talking about Mr Mazur." He just shrugged. I saw out of the corner of my eye that Lissa was now standing out of the kitchen. I turned fully so that I could see her and noticed how pale she was, paler than normal. I bent forward so that I could see Rose, but she was looking at the Princess with a funny look on her face.

"Liss... what's wrong?" she said. I then looked back to the Princess and I thought she was going to pass out, so I got up and quickly went to see what was wrong. Dimitri beat me there though.

"Roza?" He asked. She motioned to the box on the counter so he walked over and looked inside. I was about to go over myself, but he only looked confused, not worried or anything. Then Rose started to explain.

"The first time Liss ever brought anything back from the dead, after me.... it was in front of Mrs Karp and it was a crow. We didn't know at the time, but Natalie saw her do that and told Viktor. So the only other person, who would know the significance of the crow, would be Mrs Karp." Dimitri nodded and turned back to the box reaching in and then pulled out a note.

"What does it say?" Rose asked.

He looked down at it for a while obviously reading it and then looked over to the Princess. He read it out loud and it was now confirmed that Mrs Karp was indeed still alive and was Viktor's partner in France. I couldn't believe what she was saying in the letter... she kept some of her powers... I'd never heard of strigoi having any other power than super speed and strength and compulsion, but then part of the letter stuck in my head. "_I hope you got my message earlier. I want to show you what awaits you; I'll even make sure your best friend comes with you. Unfortunately, your uncle couldn't control himself. I thought he'd make a wonderful addition to our world, but I was wrong." _I didn't know what she meant by a previous message, Rose hadn't said anything to me about another message, but by the last part, we now knew why they'd taken both of the girls in France. Dimitri folded up the note and walked to Rose. "I need to let the other guardians know about this so that they can prepare. I'll be back soon." And then he gave her a kiss.

"Do you want me to come with you?" she asked him. He shook his head and walked to the door. As he walked went out Rose looked at me and with worry in her eyes, I knew what she wanted from me so I just nodded and walked out the door to keep an eye on him. I had many years experience of being unseen, but I also knew that his senses weren't like other Dhampirs anymore, so I followed him as though I would if I were hunting a strigoi. I could tell by the way he held himself that he was upset, he walked with his hands in his pockets and his head looking down. He crossed the road in front of the apartment block and walked to the park, obviously he was going to take a shortcut to the Guardian's building. He was almost half way through when someone called out to him.

"Dimka!" I looked over to the voice to see Tasha Ozera trotting up to him.

"Oh, hi Tasha." He said almost absent-mindedly.

"_Oh Hi Tasha_... Is that the best you can do?" she smiled to him.

"Sorry, just got a lot on my mind at the moment. How are you?" He looked a little uncomfortable around her, which was odd as they'd been friends for a long time; she'd even offered him a place as her guardian and maybe more if it had worked out that way. But by that time, he'd already fallen for Rose.

"Good now I suppose." She said. Something in her voice caught Dimitri's attention as well as mine.

"Oh? Were you not so good before?"

"Oh well, after my 'run in' with your wife at the wedding, I didn't know if you'd still want to talk to me."

"What are you talking about Tasha? What run in?"

"She didn't tell you? Well, I went into the ladies room and Lissa and Rose were in there. So I took the opportunity to tell her what a beautiful ceremony your wedding was, and how lucky she was to have someone as wonderful as you as a husband." Personally I couldn't see how that would have caused a run in, but knowing my daughter and her dislike for Tasha, I didn't think it would take much for her to lose her cool....

"Well...thank you, but what run in are you talking about?"

"Well she asked why I came to the wedding and why I was dancing with you... I just said that I wanted to know if it was what you really wanted and that you'd assured me that it was and that I thought you really did love her." She then closed the gap between them and put her hand on his cheek. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.... Rose and Dimitri had been married for only 24 hours and she was already hitting on him, now I could see Rose's issues with her may have some weight. "Dimitri... you know you will tire of her, she is too young for you, not in age so much, but in mind... We have so much more in common.... tell me you feel the same way..." He just stood there looking at her... "Tell me...." she said again. I then realised that she was trying to use compulsion on him, I couldn't believe it! I started to come out from where I was standing but he closed his eyes and took her hand off his face.

"I thought you were my friend Tasha, friends don't use compulsion on each other. As you can see, it doesn't work on me anymore. Listen, I don't know what happened between you and Rose, but..."

"_She punched me!_" She yelled, "That's what happened Dimka, your loving, can do no wrong wife punched me and broke my nose. Lissa had to come and heal me and I think she only did that so they could hide what Rose did." _I would have punched you too Tasha... royal or not! _I thought to myself. I didn't know if Dimitri would see things the same way though.

"She would have had a reason Tasha, what did you say to her?"

"I've already told you what I said, she just ranted and raved about how she had held her tongue up until now because we were friends and then she threatened me with giving me a matching scar if I spoke to you again. She also said that she wouldn't let anyone come between you two and she'd do _anything_ she had to, to keep you. I told her to grow up, that if she kept acting like a child with a new toy that you'd tire of it, that's when she hit me." Dimitri looked confused, obviously Rose should have told him about this fight, but he looked angry.

"I'm sorry you got hurt Tasha, but maybe we should just keep our distance for a while. Rose is a little hormonal at the moment with the pregnancy and with the effects of spirit; she just needs a little time. Maybe she'll be better once the baby is born. I have to go somewhere at the moment, but I'll talk to Rose when I get back and see if I can....see what's going on. But don't think I've forgotten what you just tried on me either, I'll talk to you soon alright." She nodded and he turned and walked away.

"I'm sorry Dimka." She said. He turned away and then waved to her as he walked. Then once he was far enough away she murmured to herself. "You'll see Dimka; you'll see that she's too young for you. I've waited this long, I can wait some more." Then she walked back to where she'd come from. I continued to follow him to the guardians building and watched him go inside. So I went to the side to wait for his return. He was in there for about half an hour and when he came out, he looked angrier than when he'd gone in.

He walked back into the park with his hands in his pockets again mumbling in Russian under his breath and shaking his head. Every now and then I heard him say 'Roza' so I knew he was upset with her and it probably had to do with what Tasha had said to him earlier. Suddenly he stopped and I ducked behind the nearest bush, I could see him looking behind himself to where I'd been following, then he shut his eyes and breathed in deep; smelling the air. This is something I'd seen strigoi do and I suddenly felt uneasy. He continued to look around for a few more seconds and then started to walk again. I hung back a little further this time and waited in the park for a while after he'd gone back into the apartment building. I walked back up to the princess's apartment and opened the door, I looked around to see Dimitri standing behind Rose who was talking to Robert and the girl I'd seen in France, Yelena Zahkov; behind her was the young guardian for St Vladimir's; Tyler Mitchell. Dimitri looked at me and nodded.

"I was wondering where you were Janine, where did you go?" I hadn't thought of an excuse, so he caught me a little off guard.

"I just told you where..." Rose started to say. He held up a hand to her but continued to look at me. Obviously he knew it was me following him and that he'd realised that I'd probably heard his conversation with Tasha. But I couldn't think of a reply quick enough.

"Rose, did you ask her to follow me or did she do that of her own accord?" I could see he was angry and was ready to bring him down if need be.

"I didn't actually ask her in so many words, but I was worried about you after you read the note from Mrs Karp, I looked to mom and she sort of knew, so she followed you to make sure you were okay. Dimitri...what's wrong?"

"I don't need to be babied Rose, _I'm_ not a teenager with rampant emotions that need to be coddled all the time." He was getting upset and I could tell Rose was getting just as cranky. If I didn't say anything soon, it could end up bad.

"Dimitri, I'm...."

"Don't Janine..... Rose needs to start acting like an _adult_ and not like a possessive teenager; she's going to be a mother soon."

"What in the _hell_ have you got shoved up your ass Dimitri? What have I done to deserve this?" I looked down and saw his fists ball up just as she put her hands on his arms. "Dimitri, your burning up again....calm down and talk to me."

"Who is Tasha?" asked Yelena. Everyone turned to her with their mouths open. "Dimitri?" She asked.


	30. The Truth Revealed

**Hi again everyone, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas... I did and got lots of great pressies.... But glad all the cooking and cleaning up is over with.  
Well, here is another chapter and I'm busy writing away as I haven't done any for the last four days or so.... So it may be a few days before I upload again.  
But anyway.... I hope you like this one...  
Sandy**

**Chapter Thirty.**

The Truth Revealed.

After Dimitri and my mom left I took Lissa over to the lounge room while Christian disposed of the crow. I could feel her worry, her anxiety through the bond, so I didn't have to ask how she was feeling.

_Are we ever going to have a calm, quiet life Rose? _She said through the bond. I just shrugged my shoulders at her; after all, what was I going to say? _I don't want to bring my kids into a world where everyone is constantly trying to kill me._

_Well, it's a little late to think like that now isn't it? They're on their way and life is what life is... We just have to tackle what it throws at us. You know that I will always be there to protect you and if I can't for some reason, you know that my mother and Dimitri and Vikki will be there in a heartbeat... You'll be better protected than the queen herself. _She couldn't help but laugh at that.

"That's true." She said.

"Then you have nothing to worry about, right!"

_Thank you Rose._

_Always Liss. _We turned away from our little conversation to the semi-amused faces that were now looking at us. Adrian was smirking, as usual and I wondered if he'd finally learned how to touch minds like Oksana. "What? It was private." I said to everyone.

"It's rude..." said Christian from the front door. I just stuck my tongue at him in reply, I loved watching him squirm with our 'conversations', he always thought they were about him... We'd all been talking about Mrs Karp and what we were going to do to get her when there was a knock at the door. Lissa stiffened and I felt a sudden wash of panic through the bond.

"It's alright." I said. Christian opened the door and we were all relieved to see Robert standing there with Yelena. Christian welcomed them back and they came in and I was surprised to see Tyler Mitchell walk in behind them. Apparently he'd been asked to meet the flight from France at JFK and accompany Yelena here on the private jet. I suddenly thought about him not being one of Dimitri's favourite people, so I thought I'd be ready for when he found him here when he got back. I only had to wait another ten or fifteen minutes and the door opened and in walked Dimitri. As soon as I'd seen his face I could tell he wasn't happy. Maybe he'd seen mom following him, but when she didn't come in, I quickly dismissed it. Then he saw Tyler and his face got tighter. I got up and walked over to him.

"You're back. I missed you." I said. He looked down at me with tight eyes and then back to Tyler.

"What's he doing here?" he asked abruptly.

"He came here with Yelena. What's wrong?"

"Nothing." He looked around the room and then continued. "Where's your mother?" Oh, crap... I knew he wouldn't like to have been followed like a child, so I said the first thing that popped into my head.

"She stepped out to call Alberta about Mrs Karp. She shouldn't be too much longer." I didn't know if he believed me or not as he just slowly nodded at me. I didn't like his demeanour so I led him over to introduce him to Yelena. We'd only been talking for a minute or two when my mother came in. I really hoped that she wouldn't let on why she'd gone outside as I knew she wouldn't give the same excuse as I'd given. Dimitri turned and looked at her and nodded.

"I was wondering where you were Janine, where did you go?" _Oh crap!_ I thought to myself. He'd obviously seen her, why would he ask her this after I'd just given an excuse. She didn't have an answer for him and I could tell that she was trying to think of something to say.

"I just told you where..." But he held up a hand to stop me... _Crap, crap, crap, crap!!! _I mentally kicked myself now for not telling him the truth straight away. I should have known... he always knew when I lied to him. Mom knew that she'd been sprung too, but didn't say anything and then Dimitri turned to me and I could see in his eyes he was furious.

"Rose, did you ask her to follow me or did she do that of her own accord?"

"I didn't actually ask her in so many words, but I was worried about you after you read the note from Mrs Karp, I looked to mom and she sort of knew, so she followed you out to make sure you were okay. Dimitri...what's wrong?"

"I don't need to be babied Rose, _I'm_ not a teenager with rampant emotions that need to be coddled all the time." I looked at him confused, and a little ticked off at the same time... I knew I'd done wrong by lying, but where was this anger coming from?

_Oh really, I'd beg to differ._ I thought to myself feeling my anger start to rise.

"Dimitri, I'm...." My mother said. He turned to her and interrupted what she was about to say.

"Don't Janine..... Rose needs to start acting like an _adult_ and not like a possessive teenager; she's going to be a mother soon." Now I was really getting pissed. _Possessive Teenager!! _I couldn't believe him... I couldn't help it; Tasha's words sprang to mind... _He will tire of you Rose. You're too immature for him. Out in the real world, it won't take long for him to see that, and I'll be here waiting. _I cringed internally but it only fuelled me more.

"What in the _hell_ have you got shoved up your ass Dimitri? What have I done to deserve this?" I could see he was angry and I put my hand on his arm and instantly I could feel the heat emanating from him. "Dimitri, your burning up again....calm down and talk to me."

"Who is Tasha?" asked Yelena. I spun around to look at her; I couldn't believe she'd mention her... How would she even know about Tasha? "Dimitri?" she asked.

"What? What do you mean?" he replied. She looked over to me like she was trying to read me and that's when I felt a tickle similar to Oksana when she touched my mind. Then she looked back to Dimitri and shook her head.

"Someone's not telling the truth." Yelena said in a strong French accent.

"What are you talking about Yelena?" asked Robert. She quickly glanced at him but walked over to me.

"Your memories are not like his." I didn't know what she meant by that and I was about to ask when she looked over to him and tilted her head. Again she shook her head. "No.... She lied." She said to Dimitri.

"Yes, I know." He said and then looked to me. _What in the hell???_

"No, not Rose.... Tasha." My mouth gaped open, trying to comprehend what she was saying, but I was at a loss, I had no idea what was going on.

"Will someone please explain to me what in the _hell_ is going on here?"

"I can see memories. That is where my gift lies. When Dimitri came in before, he was extremely upset, I didn't purposely go looking in his mind, but strong emotions sort of jump out at me and flash into my mind and when I looked at you, I instantly saw the incident from your prospective, and it was not the same." Spirit would never stop amazing me.... She then turned back to Dimitri. "Your memories and opinions of Rose do not balance with what you're feeling at the moment. You know her... What happened in the park....?" She shook her head in confusion and I looked up at him and instantly felt betrayed. Not so much that he'd seen her in the park, but that I knew that she'd try to tell him something to turn him against me, but from his mood, it seemed as though he believed her.

"You saw Tasha?" I asked him.

"She didn't tell you the truth Dimitri." Said Yelena. "I can show you what really happened if you'd like." She turned to me to explain some more. "Tasha twisted around what happened in the ladies room. I can show him the truth if you want him to see."

"You believed her?" I whispered to him. I looked back to Yelena and nodded, but stared at the ground in front of me, the feelings of him choosing her over me resurfaced again. Yelena put one hand on my arm and the other on Dimitri's arm; suddenly I was in the ladies room again, watching the whole scene play out again through my eyes. All those terrible things she said to me, all the feelings that her words made me feel...anger, inadequacy, hurt.....they played back in my mind and then the feeling I got when I hit her, the relief of finally standing up to her: my own thoughts telling myself to get control, to be the person Dimitri wanted me to be, to walk away... it was the weirdest feeling I've ever felt. Then she let go and I was back in Lissa's lounge room, I could see Dimitri's face fall as he'd now seen the truth.

"Oh Roza, I'm so sorry." I shook my head and walked away out to the balcony. I wasn't out there long and Yelena came to stand beside me.

"It's not entirely his fault Rose. Do you want to know what happened in the park?" I didn't know if I really wanted to or not, maybe it would only make me angrier. "Now that I've touched him, I can relay his memories to you without having to form a bridge again like before." I looked at her and she was so sincere.

"Alright." I said. She touched my arm again and I found myself in the park looking at the grass. Obviously I was now looking through Dimitri's eyes. I heard Tasha call him and then I saw her. I could feel the frustration, almost annoyance that he felt when he looked at her. Then I heard how she twisted everything, how she tried to use compulsion on him, his disgust in her when she did it; her betrayal to their friendship.....friendship, that's all it was, all it _ever_ was. Then I was back at the balcony. I glanced at Yelena and smiled. "Thank you." I whispered to her.

She smiled back and said, "He loves you very much, so much so, that it takes his breath away." And with that she touched her finger to my arm and I got an image of the cabin, me lying beside him in bed and a jolt of feelings through my mind and body, the heart racing feeling of intense love; over-whelming, all encompassing love... That jolt was like the lightning bolt that I'd get whenever he touched me....I turned my head to look back into the apartment and he was still standing where I'd left him before. He was no longer angry....his face was etched in sorrow and my heart broke seeing him like that. I walked back into the room and went straight over to him. I stood in front of him and reached up and took his face into my hands.

"I love you so much." I whispered through soft sobs. He bent down and wrapped his arms around me lifting me up and kissing me in one motion. Someone cleared their throat in the background and we came apart and I wiped the tear that had escaped his eye.

"I'm so sorry for not believing you...for what she said to you. She had not right." Dimitri said softly.

"It doesn't matter anymore. From this point on, nothing she says will ever upset me again. I _know_ how you.... how you feel." I said, the words catching in my throat. I didn't want to cry I had more to say.... "Put me down for a minute. Yelena?" I turned to her and she walked over to us. "Yelena, there are some things that I'd like you to show to Dimitri if you would. The first one is this..." She tilted her head to the side and I showed her what _I_ had felt after the first time we made love at the cabin, then I showed her the pain I felt when I lost him and the ecstasy I felt the moment he woke up after getting his soul back and how my heart felt like exploding. I showed her how I felt as he said his vows to me and how much I loved our child. "Can you show him all of that?" She smiled widely and then nodded. She walked over and placed her hand on his forearm and I watched his face as he experienced my love for him. I could tell the moment he experienced my pain when I lost him, his eyes closed and tear fell down his cheek. He then opened his eyes and smiled as he continued seeing and feeling my emotions, she took her hand away and he took a deep breath. He turned to Yelena and smiled.

"Thank you Yelena, you truly have an amazing gift." He said. She blushed slightly and I had the feeling that not many people complemented her on her ability.

"What's going on Liss?" Christian asked; he knew something had happened with his aunt, but up until now had just sat back and watched it all unfold.

_Ah...Rose. Can I tell him? _She asked through the bond.

"Yelena? Can I ask you one more favour please?" She smiled and nodded to me. "That memory of mine of Tasha, can you show it to Christian?" She looked over to Christian and I could tell she was looking at his aura, I'd seen the same look in both Lissa's and Adrian's eyes when they did that.

"If he wants." She said simply.

"What did she do?" Christian asked me.

"If you really want to know the truth, Yelena can show you." I said. He took a breath and nodded. Yelena walked over to him and sat down beside him. She placed her hand on his arm and I watched his face as he went through my memory. When it was over he got up and walked over to me.

"I'm sorry Rose. I never thought she'd take it this far." He said. Then he looked up to Dimitri who was standing beside me. "I don't condone what she's said and done to both of you, but you of all people know how lonely she's been. She's wanted a family for so long. After my parents....well, after they left, I was the only family she had; and you two were such good friends and she thought that...maybe you could be more. You were the only one who always treated her with respect and you never held what my parent did, against her. And she thought that with you, she could finally have the children she's always wanted. But I _did_ think that she'd given up on that idea when your relationship with Rose became known. I think I need to go and talk to her. I am sorry; she's really not the bitch that she's coming across as." As I listened to Christian, I could feel my anger for her subside. When I first met Tasha, I did like her. I thought she was wonderful, strong, brave and a fighter; I respected her. He turned to walk to the front door, but I called to him before he could leave.

"Christian. Tell her....that I hope her nose is feeling better." He gave me a sly grin and nodded to me and then walked out. Dimitri looked down at me with a funny look on his face and then squeezed me closer to him. I looked around the room and everyone had the same look on their faces. "What!" I said to them all.

_Rose....that was so nice. _Lissa said through the bond.

"Let's not go that far Liss." I said, she just smiled at me. Robert got up and walked over to me and took my face in his hands. He smiled and tilted his head to the side.

"_You truly are the most selfless person I've met in a long time Rosemarie._" My eyes widened in shock... he'd never spoken silently to me before, I thought only Lissa could do that. _"Yes I can talk to you like this too and you can talk to me as well. You're tired, so I'll get Yelena settled into her room and we'll see you in the morning. And you were wondering before when you found out what Yelena could do, if your child would be as special....well, I can't see how it wouldn't be with a mother like you Rosemarie."_

"_Thank you Robert." _I said only to him. I wanted to know if he'd hear me.

"You're very welcome my dear." We said goodnight to them and then everyone started to leave after that, which just left the four of us.


	31. Do svidaniya

**Okay... I have to chuck in some fillers here...**

**Chapter Thirty-One**

Do svidaniya

"Mrs Belikova?" he said seductively. "I do believe that we have a couple more days of our honeymoon to go. I wouldn't want the Princess's hard work to go unused." I smiled widely as I bit my bottom lip. I looked over to Liss who was looking tired and a little sad. I tried to feel if she was okay, but she was blocking me, I wouldn't be able to leave knowing she was hiding something from me, so I looked back up to Dimitri.

"I just need to speak to Liss for a minute." I said. He nodded his head and I went to Lissa as he walked into the kitchen. "What are you trying to hide? Haven't you realised yet that by putting up those barriers it just makes me more determined to find out what's wrong." Her barriers came down and her emotions spilled into me. There was a little sadness, nothing too bad, but there was also worry and fear; not only for herself, but for us too. She knew that Sonya was after her and she knew without a doubt that I would put myself in between her and any danger, I would risk my life to save hers and she felt guilty..... guilty over the fact that I'd just got my 'fairy tale' and now I was going to risk it all to save her. She looked up at me as I got near to her.

"Are you going back to the Villa tonight?" She said trying to steer me off why I was coming over to her.

"Yes, but you know that's not why I'm here right now." She smiled shyly as she knew that I'd read her feelings. "Liss, you have no need to feel guilty. I have trained my whole life to be a guardian, it's what I am. But I'm so lucky that I got to be a guardian for my best friend, that doesn't happen very often. Even if I wasn't your guardian, I wouldn't leave you to face this without me. You know that there were plenty of times that Dimitri and I could have chosen not to take this path, we could have chosen a life purely as guardians, but we didn't, we decided to have it all and with that choice; came a certain amount of sacrifice, but it's one that we would both make again in a heartbeat. So don't feel guilty, I don't.... I have everything I could possibly want." She seemed a little calmer so I told her I'd see her in a couple of days. I heard Dimitri walk up behind me and put his hand on my shoulder.

"My mother just rang; they're leaving in the morning, so we'll stay in the apartment tonight and see them off in the morning." He said. I felt kind of sad to see them go, they were my family too and not just by marriage, I loved them more than I thought I ever would and to say goodbye to them was going to be hard. I nodded and then stood up to leave. We said our goodbyes and went back to our apartment. Dimitri opened the door and held it open for me...but I felt him watching me as I walked past him. The door shut and suddenly I found myself in between it and Dimitri's body. "Now....just because we aren't at the villa, doesn't mean that the honeymoon can't continue." He said in an extremely sexy voice. I smiled and reached up to hold his face, even though I couldn't see it in the pitch black of our room.

_Liss....put those blocks back up....you might cop an eyeful soon.... _I couldn't help but giggle at the groan that I got back in reply...Luckily he thought it was my excitement over what was coming... I've read and heard heaps of times that sex isn't the same after you get married... well, it's true.... it's better! With Dimitri it is anyway. Whenever we were together...before, there was always a part of himself that he kept a tight hold of, always a part that probably kept saying... 'It's wrong, no-one will accept this, I shouldn't be doing this...' but now.....there was nothing holding him back. We were both adults, legally wed and no-one had the right to say anything and now he gave me everything of himself.

"I'm sorry about before." He said afterwards. "I don't know how to explain what was going on in my head. I _didn't_ believe her because... well, I _know_ you, but something made me believe her.... So much has happened in the last six months, being turned, killing all those innocent people. I know it wasn't me, but I still have those memories; I'm still angry with myself for doing what I did. And now, this power.... I have to work so hard to keep control _all_ the time; it's not as easy as before."

"Oh, I don't think you were that good at keeping your control under wraps before Comrade... you just made it seem that way." I said with a smirk. I didn't want him to get too down on himself so I tried to lighten the mood a little and chuck in his old nickname. He did smile a bit, but there was no humour behind it...

"Mmm, I admit there were times when my lack of self control became an issue." I couldn't help but giggle at his view of himself... "But this is different. As soon as I get even just a little upset, I don't know...it's like the anger just boils over and I can't stop it, I can't see straight. Sort of like you when Lissa's darkness spills into you." I knew that feeling quite well. Sometimes my feelings betrayed me, made me feel and do things that I wouldn't normally feel and do.... This new power of his was something that we were both going to have to learn to deal with.

"I think that you need to start work with Christian and my dad. You need to learn how to deal with it, because...." I looked down not really wanting to say it out loud... "Because I think we're going to need you in control sooner rather than later."

* * *

_Don't cry Rose....you promised yourself that you weren't going to cry.... _I told myself. Watching the guardians put their bags into the plane made it all too real.... they really were going home.

"I would say thank you Rose, but thank you just doesn't feel enough for what you have done for our family." Said Olena. "Without your strength of mind and will, I would not have my son standing here in front of me. He wouldn't be so happy that he radiates whenever you are near," she said with a grin and a glance to Dimitri, "nor would this miracle of a child be on its way. I thank God every day for you Rose, we love you very much." Then she pulled me into a hug and I felt the traitor of a tear fall onto my cheek. We pulled apart and she wiped it from my face.

"I don't think I'm ready to say goodbye to you yet." I said.

"Not goodbye Rose.... it's....till we meet again. Which will be soon, right Dimka?" she said with a smile.

"Da Mama." She put her hand against his face and the love she had for her only son beamed from her eyes.

"Good. Do svidaniya Dimka."

"Do svidaniya Mama. Ya lyublyu tebya." He said.

"Ya tebya lyublyu tozhya." Then she stepped aside as Yeva came up to wrap her grandson into an almighty hug. I smiled seeing him so gentle with his grandmother. She rattled off some long winded speech into his ear which made him smile and raise his eyebrows; she touched the end of his nose with her bony finger and then turned to me.

"Do not lose your concentration Rose." She wrapped her arms around me and whispered into my ear. "I know about your thirst, tell him and he will help you, because it will only get worse and you may do something you will regret if he does not know." I felt a cold shiver go down my spine as she pulled back to look at me. "Promise me?" she asked. I hadn't planned on telling him just how bad the thirst had become, but knowing Yeva as I do; I knew she wouldn't tell me this unless it was important.

"I promise Yeva." I said truthfully, to which she gave a quick nod.

"Do svidaniya Roza."

"Do svidaniya Babushka." I said with a smile. She raised an eyebrow at me and then kissed both cheeks. She turned away quickly and grabbed Olena by the arm and walked up the plane steps, never looking back. "I'm going to miss them." I said to Dimitri with tears in my eyes.

"Yeah, me too." He had a far off look to his face and I wondered how many times he'd said goodbye to his family in the past. Then he looked at me and smiled.

"She liked that."

"Liked what?"

"You, calling her grandmother, that meant a lot to her....and me. You have no idea how much they love you."

"What did she say to you?" I asked. He bit his bottom lip as he put his arm around my shoulder and walked us away from the plane.

"I'm not allowed to tell you, she made me promise that I wouldn't say anything. And that reminds me; you made a promise to her yourself." I noticed how he quickly changed the conversation to me....

"I'll tell you when we get back to the academy." We waved them off as the plane taxied away. Just then I got an anxious feeling from Lissa, so I quickly slipped into her head. She was with Christian, Adrian, Vikki and Mia at the cafe near our apartment building. They were all sitting at a table eating and Lissa was looking at Mia who was fawning all over Adrian and then she'd glance over to Vikki. If looks could kill, Mia would be dead and buried but Vikki was a Belikov and not only had she been raised to respect Moroi, especially Royals, but she had learnt a lot of control since being here in the US.

"Adrian," Lissa said. "I'd like to do some more work with Spirit today if you wouldn't mind. I thought I'd get Robert to bring Yelena over to see what else she can do, what do you think?"

"That sounds good. What time?" he asked. Lissa looked back to Vikki who didn't look much better than before.

"Ah, soon... Is that alright with you?" He nodded. She was confused as to how she was going to get Mia away from him; she was a little concerned that Vikki was going to lose it any second. "Ah, Mia, would you mind ordering me a cappuccino?" Mia looked at her with a slightly hurt expression... "I'd get up myself, but my back's a little sore this morning." Lissa said it so nicely that Mia's face softened and she quickly got up and went to get the coffee.

"I'll be back soon." said Vikki as she got up and walked to the ladies room.

"Are you enjoying yourself Adrian?" Lissa asked annoyed.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh come on man...." said Christian. "You have Mia hanging all over you on one side and Vikki throwing daggers on the other and you expect us to think you have no idea what's going on? Yeah right, you're enjoying every second of it." Adrian's evil grin played at one side of his face.

"I can't help it if I'm irresistible."

"Adrian," said Liss, "If you don't stop things soon, Vikki is going to do something she shouldn't and we won't be able to stop her. And you know if you let something happen to hurt her chances of being a guardian, not only will Rose skin you alive, but Dimitri will dispose of your body."

"And I'll help." Christian chipped in. Adrian just continued to smile. Just then Mia returned with Lissa's cappuccino which she really didn't want, but now had to drink.

"So Adrian," said Mia. "You never said if you'd like to come to Europe with me." Lissa nearly choked on her coffee as she looked up from her cup and saw Vikki standing behind Adrian just looking at him, probably to see what he'd say. Seeing Lissa's face he explained...

"Mia was telling me about her trip at Rose's wedding and asked me if I'd like to go with her when she went back." Then he turned back to Mia, "Mia, I'll tell you what; I'll come on one condition." I could see Vikki's face getting madder and madder as Lissa's eye's flicked between her and Adrian and Lissa's anxiety shot through me like a bolt of lightning.

"Anything." She said.

"Can I bring Vikki?" Mia's mouth dropped open and Christian choked on his drink.... Vikki's face bloomed into the biggest smile and Lissa finally let out the breath she'd been holding.

"Take me where?" Vikki said innocently.

"Europe." Said Adrian. He stood up and wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her into him. "Would you like to go with me?" She gave a quick grin and then slipped the carefully composed mask back on.

"Well that depends on how nicely you ask." She said. Everyone there could hear her tone and in one quick movement Adrian dipped her backwards in his arms and kissed her deeply.

As he ended the kiss he smiled at her, "Is that nicely enough?" he teased. She giggled softly and teased back...

"It's getting there, but I think it still needs a little work." Lissa glanced over to Mia who still had her mouth open, but the realisation of Adrian's relationship with Vikki was dawning on her. Now that Lissa was relaxing I decided to come back to my own head and found myself staring at my Russian God.

"Welcome back." He said. "Anything to be worried about?" I didn't think he'd like to hear about his sisters jealous feelings over Adrian and Mia....

So I shook my head and said, "Nope, Liss was just a little anxious about something, so I thought I'd check to see if she was okay." The smile he gave me told me that he didn't quite believe me, but that was okay....he didn't need to know _everything_....


	32. You Could Have Warned Me Rose

**Hi Everyone... Happy New Year!! I hope everyone has a wonderful 2010... Sorry for taking so long to update, so I thought I'd give you a nice long chapter!!!  
I haven't answered everyone's reviews yet so I thought I'd say a collective THANK YOU. **

**Enjoy, Sandy**

**Chapter Thirty-Two**

You Could Have Warned Me Rose.

On the short drive back from the airfield, I sat thinking about Olena and what Yeva had said.

"_Do not lose your concentration Rose. I know about your thirst, tell him and he will help you, because it will only get worse and you may do something you will regret if he does not know." _

Lose my concentration...? What could that mean? I decided not to over think that one too much, I would find out soon enough I suppose... We were going to be dropped off at the cafe because we were going to meet Christian and Lissa there, but first I had to make good on my promise to Yeva.

_Liss. We're on our way, we'll be there soon but I need to talk to Dimitri first, so can you hang around there for a little bit?_

_Yeah, is everything alright?_ She asked. We'd come to an understanding now that we could hear each other so easily... We kept up our barriers to a certain point and make a concerted effort not to read each other's thoughts, unless asked to.

_Yeah, just something I need to let him know._

_Okay, see you soon then. _The car pulled up and we got out. As Dimitri went to walk towards the cafe, I grabbed his arm.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" He suddenly got a concerned look on his face. "Nothing overly serious, just my promise to Yeva."

"Oh, okay." He said. I looked over to the park and started to cross the street. We walked hand in hand over to the bench seats that were next to the large lake and sat down. He didn't say anything, as usual, he just waited for me to get my thoughts in order...

"Um, there's something that I think I should tell you. I didn't think it was going to be a problem but I think it's turning into one..."

"Roza, you're stalling... spit it out."

"Well...you know how since I've been pregnant, I've had this heightened....awareness to the smell of blood." He nodded but didn't say anything. "Well what I didn't tell anyone about was the....desire that went with it." I just looked at him to see if he was going to say anything, but he didn't so I continued. "On the plane to France, I told you how good it smelt, like cookie dough... well at the time that's what it mostly was...but there was also a slight...want for it. Well a couple of times since then I've been around blood, the most recent was at the wedding....when I hit Tasha in the bathroom. The instant I smelt her blood, all I could think of was....'_it_'....how _it_ would taste. If it wasn't for Lissa grabbing my arm and pulling me out of the bathroom, I think I might have tried to drink from her. The...thirst...is getting worse." I continued to look into his eyes as I spoke and his face never changed. After I finished talking he just sat there and I was scared to hear what he thought. What if he thought I was going crazy, what if he told the doctor about it and they tried to end my pregnancy, what if he....

"Roza," he said cutting my internal ramblings off mid sentence. "How bad are the cravings? I mean are they only when you see or smell blood or are they always there?" I couldn't believe it, he didn't think I was nuts... Yeva was right, he would help me.

"Ah, I suppose it's always there a bit, it wasn't a few weeks ago so I think that's getting worse too. But when I get around blood....my mouth waters and it's the only thing I can see or smell or think about. Everything else around me just disappears; I can't _concentrate_ on anything else around me." He nodded again.

"I think it has something to do with the pregnancy. Normal Moroi babies get their blood from their mothers when they feed, but you don't feed, so maybe the baby it trying to tell you what it needs." I thought about that for a minute.

"What if I don't give in to the cravings? Will the baby die? Oh God Dimitri..." I was suddenly panicked over the thought that I could lose my child...

_Rose... What's wrong? You just sucked me into your head... _

_I'm okay Liss...We'll be there soon; I'll talk to you about it later okay..._

_Alright, if you need me, just holler okay..._

_Okay, thanks. Bye..._

_Bye..._

"Were you just talking to Lissa?"

"Yeah, I just pulled her in... Dimitri, I can't lose..." He put his finger on my lips and shook his head.

"You won't. I won't let anything happen to you _or_ our baby. I think we need to talk to the doctor though." A sudden irrational fear shot through me when he mentioned the doctor and he saw my face. "He won't hurt either one of you, but maybe he might find a way of getting the blood into you that the baby needs." I nodded seeing reason...finally. "We'll work this out, okay."

"Yeah. I just hope that no-one decides to suddenly bleed out beforehand though." I said with a slight smile... He stood up with an amused look on his face and reached a hand out to me.

"Come on, Liss will probably want an explanation."

"Yeah, she will. And you need to talk to Christian about working with your new power. Why can't our lives just sail smoothly for a while...?"

"Because you'd get bored..." he said with a wink. He pulled me into his side and we walked back to the cafe. As we got there I saw my mother sitting at one of the outside tables.

"Mom.... What are you doing out here?" She was Lissa's guardian while Dimitri and I had a couple days of our honeymoon.

"I don't need to hear all the 'goings on' to guard, Rosemarie. I can _see_ everything from here. Did your mother and grandmother get away alright Dimitri?" she asked.

"Yes they did. Janine, is Mr Mazur busy today?"

"No, not overly, do you need him for something?"

"Yeah, I was going to ask him and Christian to work with me today." I saw a slight smile pull at my mother's mouth. She nodded and pulled out her cell.

"Abe, Dimitri would like to know if you could work with him today........ Yeah, okay, see you soon." With that she hung up. "He has an appointment to keep but he'll meet you here in about two hours."

"Thank you." He said. "Rose, go see Lissa and then I'm taking you to the doctor." He had to say that in front of my mother didn't he.

"What's wrong? Why do you need to go to the doctor?" I glared at Dimitri's smiling face; he was seriously going to pay for this...

"Come with me, I've got to tell Liss anyway so this way I only have to tell the story once." We walked in to see Liss and Christian still sitting at the table with Mia, Adrian and Vikki. At least Vikki didn't look as bad as she did before.

"Dimka! Rose...." she got up and wrapped her arms around us both, pulling us in for a hug.

"You look better." I said with a wink. She looked confused obviously not putting two and two together... I didn't know if I really wanted everyone here to know what was going on with me, but these people where my family...well apart from Mia of course... "Mia, would you mind giving us a little time... I need to speak to these guys about something."

"Oh, yeah sure. I've got stuff that I need to do anyway. See you all later." I felt sorry for having to send her away, but she really didn't need to know what was going on. I sat and told them all what I'd just told Dimitri and they all took it all pretty well, but Christian being Christian couldn't let it pass.

"Just let me know when you want to walk on the wild side Buffy..." he said. "I'm sure I can find you a nice tender piece of meat."

"Can it Sparky, before I decide to make _you_ my first meal."

"_OW_!" I yelled out as both of my legs got a swift kick under the table from both my mother and Dimitri. "_What_! He started it..." Christian just sat there grinning at me.

"You only _wish_ to get some of this Rose."

"Oh, you have no idea how much I've wanted to spill your blood Sparky." He was trying so hard to keep from laughing out loud. I looked around at my 'family' and saw many different expressions... Vikki looked like she was about to have kittens.... Adrian looked much like Christian, Dimitri was just shaking his head and mom...well she looked like she always did...exasperated! Mission accomplished!! I laughed to myself...

_Rose! _Lissa glared at me, _you'd get in so much trouble if someone overheard you._

_No I wouldn't...You'd just compel them to forget! _

"That's true." She said aloud... Christian's face went from laughing to glaring in one second flat!

"Well everyone, I have to get Rose to the doctor before her father gets here. Christian, would you mind meeting us here in about an hour and a half, I wanted to do some work with my...new ability and I thought who better to work with than you and Rose's dad."

"I'll be here with bells on. This should be interesting." He grinned. _Yeah it will be._ I thought to myself as I looked at Dimitri. I knew that the time would be coming soon when we would face Sonya and I needed to know what he could do, but I wanted him to learn how to control it as I knew how much he treasured his self-control, it was like air to him, he needed it to be able to function properly. We jogged over to the medical centre; any chance to exercise was good...

We got to see the doctor almost immediately as there wasn't anyone else waiting. The doctor was in his late thirties I suppose, sandy blonde hair, tall and lean like most Moroi and unbelievably good looking, even for a Moroi. I related for the third time what was going on and he took some blood from me, apparently to check that the baby wasn't taking too much out of me. He also did a sonagram to check on the development. "Do you want to know what you're having?" he asked. My heart did a quick flip... I looked at Dimitri to see what he thought.

"It's up to you Roza, I don't mind waiting if that's what you want." I almost said yes to the doctor, but then I thought about the upcoming encounter against Sonya, somewhere in the back of my mind I knew that there was a chance that I'd get hurt, maybe even enough that I might lose the baby, and if that was to happen then I didn't want to know if it was a boy or girl. If everything worked out, then I'd find out later.

"Maybe later on." I said. Dimitri just looked at me and I swear he knew what I was thinking. The doctor nodded and wiped of the gel from my little bump. He said that everything looked good and to come back in a couple of days for the result of the blood work. "I'd like to start training again," I said as we walked out of the med centre. "I haven't trained for nearly a week and I feel like I need to." The need to hit something wasn't as bad lately, Lissa was so content lately, I hardly got anything negative from her and her ability to control spirit was a lot stronger so she didn't use as much energy now.

"I'm not saying no Roza, but do you think it's wise? I don't want you to get hurt." He said honestly.

"I'll be fine Hot stuff..." he rolled his eyes at my new nickname for him. "Hey... I could call you Comrade again if you'd like."

"Hmm, can I go with none of the above?" I turned to step in front of him and I put my hand on his chest.

"Nope... they're your only options. Personally I think the first one suits you quite well." We were now on the far side of the park, a good fifteen minute walk from the cafe, and before I knew what was happening, Dimitri had scooped me up and pushed me up against a tree behind some bushes; completely hidden.

"You're the only hot stuff around here Roza." He said to me. I knew this look, the look he had in his eyes...and my body came alive with the realisation of what he was thinking. He took both of my hands in one of his and raised them above my head against the tree and with his other hand pushed my hair away from my neck. "I don't know how I control myself around you sometimes." He said as he kissed down my neck. "Then again, sometimes I can't."

"Shouldn't we take this....somewhere a little more private?" I said softly as I closed my eyes.

"No." He said urgently, his free hand went down my side and under my shirt setting my skin on fire and then in one second flat; that shirt was off! I opened my eyes to see him staring intently at me and then I felt the pop of my bra clasp as he undid it and I couldn't believe that he was going to keep going with this....here... it was so unlike him. He slowly pulled the straps from my shoulders and let my bra fall to the ground; his eyes looking down to take in my naked chest. His hand came up and gently touched each breast and my breathing hitched. "I love you so much." He whispered slowly and then bent forward. As he came closer I licked my lips in anticipation; I loved the feeling of his lips against mine, they were so soft. At first the kiss was soft but he soon deepened it by pushing his tongue into my mouth, which I gladly took. One of his hands slid down from under my breast, to my stomach and then he undid the button of my jeans. I pulled my arms out of his grip and started to unbutton his shirt. My hands froze as his hand found its way into my underwear. I moaned softly as his fingers explored me. I pushed my hip against his hand and somehow continued with his shirt.

"Oh God!" I whispered in between my heavy breaths. "Here?" I asked incredulously... I felt his smile against my lips.

"Here." Then I felt him pushing my jeans down... Not that I'm normally an exhibitionist or anything, but I suddenly forgot or just plain didn't care where I was at this point, so I helped him in his efforts with my jeans at the same time I unzipped his. I reached in and took him in my hand and was rewarded with a growl and a nip on the curve of my shoulder. "Roza, I want you so bad, I..." I interrupted him as I reached up and gripped his shoulders and in one swift movement, flung him to the ground and straddled myself on top of him.

"Ask and ye shall receive." I whispered against his lips. He stared into my eyes for a moment and then spoke.

"I want..." and then his eyes closed and a moan escaped from his mouth as I lowered myself onto him. His hands gripped my hips and he closed the short distance between our mouths. As we moved together, his hands came up and wound into my hair, keeping our lips joined. Our mouths soon came apart to breathe but he continued to kiss along my jaw, down my neck and as he went further down, we rolled so that he was now over me. I wrapped my legs around him and squeezed. He winced slightly which only made him thrust harder into me. I closed my eyes as my mind concentrated only on the pleasure that was now enveloping my body, escalating with every thrust of his hips; I felt his mouth and hands work hungrily over my breasts. Every now and again he'd nip at my skin sending shudders through my body. I dug my fingers into his back as my body burst into ecstasy; goosebumps covering me from head to toe.

"Oh....My....Go..." my voice was suddenly cut off with his lips and in one last thrust; he released himself into my body. He was a little less vocal than I was, just a throaty growl behind clenched teeth and eyes. I watched him as his face slowly relaxed and his eyes opened. We stared at each other, panting with exertion, our hearts beating madly... "Wow!" I said with a slight giggle. "I rather like this new you..." We laid together, still joined, not wanting to part. I could live in this position for the rest of my life and be utterly content.

"Do you?" he said still slightly breathless with a raised eyebrow.

"Uh hgh! I think I may have corrupted you a little. _This_ would never have happened a few months ago."

"Oh, I'd say you corrupted me more than a little Roza." He kissed me again, softly and slowly and then I felt him slowly leave my body. "We need to go before someone comes looking for us." I knew he was right, but I couldn't stop the pout from forming on my mouth. He smiled as he reached over me and dragged our clothes over so that we could get dressed. I just laid there, naked and on my elbows watching his amazing body as he slowly covered it up. "Are you going back like that?" he asked with a grin.

"No, just enjoying the scenery." I said. I stood up and he handed me my underwear, one piece at a time and watched me as intently as I did him. We checked each other out, making sure that we didn't take some of the park back with us like we did last time we decided to 'take it outdoors', laughing as we picked out bits of twigs and leaves from our hair and clothing... we ran, well...I ran, Dimitri jogged back to the cafe, everyone looked up into my flushed face with questioning looks, and when I looked confused they went back to what they were doing before...bar Lissa.

_You could have warned me Rose! _All I could do was burst into laughter... Everyone stared at me as I fell into the nearest chair. I wanted to say sorry but I couldn't....all I could think of was how hilarious it was that she now knew what it was like to be dragged unwillingly into someone else's.....fun.

"What did you drag her into Rose?" asked Adrian.

"Oh...you know.....a little bit of this....a little bit of that..." I smiled as I wiped the tears out of my eyes.

"A little bit of...!" Lissa said wide eyed...

_Good....wasn't it! _I said silently to her.

_You are so bad Rose._...._couldn't you have waited till you got back to the apartment?_

_Well, I could have but my other half has a few control issues that need to worked out. _

_I would say so.... _She said while I continued to giggle. Just then, my father walked in.


	33. A Really Hot Workout

**Hi Again... Well, I'm updating tonight... I'll be away until Sunday, so intead of making you wait till then, I thought I'd be nice... :-D  
I have some another chapter ready to go when I get back and also for my new story... Alternate Universe.  
I hope you all enjoy and I'll be back soon....**

**Sandy....**

**Chapter Thirty-Three**

A Really Hot Workout.

"Were you being naughty little Dhampir?" Adrian asked as we all walked to the cars that my father had brought with him.

"Adrian....you have no idea how naughty I've been lately..." I said with a wink. As I went to get into the car, I looked back to see him standing there with his mouth open in shock. "Close your mouth Adrian, you'll attract fly's." I looked back and saw Dimitri laughing softly on his seat; obviously hearing our little exchange.

"Tease." He said as I sat beside him.

"What can I say....it's a gift!" I said with a roll of my eyes....That made him laugh even more... the laugh I lived to hear. It still amazed me how something so simple could do such wondrous things for my heart. I snuggled into his chest as we drove to a secluded area of the royal Court.

Adrian was sitting in the back row of seats with Vikki and Christian, but he leant forward to talk; curiosity getting the better of him. "So Rose, you never did tell me what you were doing that was so intense that you pulled Lissa into you head."

I almost let fly with one of my witty remarks, but I just stared straight ahead, not looking back to him and grinned evilly; I started to sing a few lines of a song that had been playing in my head since leaving the park.... "You and me baby we aint nothin' but mammals, so let's do it like they do on the discovery channel...." and then I continued to hum the rest of the verse.

_ROSE! _Said Lissa through the bond at the same time that Dimitri & Christian nearly choked on their own tongues.... _I can't believe you just did that! You are the most wicked person I know... _She was trying quite unsuccessfully not to laugh herself and Christian could hardly catch his breath behind us. I took a sidelong glance to Dimitri who was still coughing madly at the same time as laughing. I turned back to look at Adrian and he was only a few inches away from me grinning....

"So, I can start calling him Bugs...and you Lola...? Can I?"

"Lola?" I said, "That's a good name... I like it. Quite fitting actually..." I looked back at Dimitri who by now had stopped choking but looked a little confused by our 'nickname' conversation... I leant back into his chest with a smile... "Come here Bugs, I need a cuddle."

"_Bugs!_I love it!" laughed Christian... I could tell he probably had tears of laughter rolling down his cheeks, I don't think he'd laughed this much in a long time. I heard Vikki ask Adrian what it all meant so he explained it in hushed tones....but not hushed enough for Dimitri's ears. After Adrian finished with his explanation I felt Dimitri's body shake as he giggled to himself. We drove for another fifteen minutes or so; every now and again we'd hear Christian giggle.... Then the cars stopped.

We got out at the start of a dense grouping of trees and from where the guardians were walking; I gathered we were going in.... We made sure that we weren't too close to the wards and none of what we were going to do here was done in a dark way. We didn't want a repeat of what happened at the academy.

"The clearing is a little walk from here." Said Pavel. We were walking for about five minutes when Lissa suddenly stopped walking.

"I don't think I can walk any further. My feet and back are killing me..." she said with a slight pout. Dimitri smiled and let go of my hand and walked over and picked her up in his arms.

"Then let me help." He said. She tried to object saying she was too heavy.... yeah right! She's Moroi; she'd never be too heavy, especially not for a man like Dimitri. We walked for another ten minutes or so when we came to a small clearing. Unfortunately, there were a lot at Court that still frowned upon Moroi using their magic defensively, so a place had to be found that our activities could go unnoticed, apparently my father had got Pavel to find somewhere private to practise in when he was told of Dimitri's new ability. He put her down and then walked out further into the clearing with my father and Christian.

"This should be interesting." Said my mother as we all sat down on the grass to watch Dimitri's first training day as a fire user.

"Mmm." I murmured. I couldn't hear what they were saying to Dimitri but I could see him holding his hands out and nodding. Whatever he was trying to do was obviously not working because I could see his face getting tighter and tighter.

"Having a little trouble with the ignition Belikov." Yelled Adrian. I gave him a quick punch to the arm for that little comment, and Dimitri's eyes narrowed as he glared a look of death at Adrian. Christian pulled him back to what they were doing, but it still didn't look like it was working.

"You're an ass Adrian." I said. "If you want to know what really bad sunburn feels like....keep going. I won't stop him from making you feel all warm and crispy!" He just giggled. After a few more minutes, my father and Christian started showing him what they did to produce fire in their hands. He watched intently but it still didn't work. Then out of the corner of my eye, I saw Adrian lean to Vikki and whisper something to her; she nodded and suddenly they threw their arms around each other, falling to the ground, kissing madly beside me... The gasps and giggle coming from us sitting here alerted the boys that something was happening. I instantly turned to look at Dimitri...rage burned within him. I jumped up putting myself in-between the dumb-ass Moroi with a death wish and my enraged, death-dealing husband... Instantly fire erupted from his hands...

"_GET_ your hands _off_ her Adrian!" he yelled from where he stood.

"Dimitri... look! Look at your hands, keep the fire going." I yelled back. He tore his eyes away from Adrian and looked at his hands. He glanced back to us and then turned to face the other way and then pushed his hand out; throwing a stream of fire at a large boulder that jutted out of the ground at the same time he yelled in anger. I turned to glare at Adrian but was surprised to see both him and Vikki watching Dimitri and slowly nodding their heads with grins on their faces. "You staged it!" I said in disbelief. "You idiot, do you know how volatile he is at the moment? Not only can he consume you with fire now, but he has retained the strength and speed he had gained after he was tur... changed." Adrian's smile fell as he glanced over to where Dimitri was standing. Dimitri glanced back at us and looked to Adrian for long enough to make me uneasy and then continued producing fire. Apparently all he needed was to know how to tie in his emotions to ability. Dimitri always was a fast learner and within an hour of Adrian's little prompting act.... he was able to produce fire on cue and his aim wasn't too far off either.

All three fire users were starting to tire so they thought that they would give the day away. Mom and dad walked off together as did Adrian and Vikki; who decided to go for a walk on their own, one of the other guardians went with them of course.... Dimitri came and sat beside me. I could tell as he walked towards me that he was deep in thought so I waited for him to speak. "He did that to bait me, didn't he?" he said. I smiled as I looked at him.

"Yeah. I didn't know beforehand otherwise I wouldn't have let him do it."

"He's doing everything he can to help me....isn't he?" I was shocked to say the least. "I know he helped bring me back for your sake and not for mine, but he's done other stuff since then that makes me think he's still trying to help....in his own special way." He looked at me with an odd face; he wanted to be angry but forgiveness was just around the corner, and it annoyed him that he was going to give it. "Do you think his feelings for Viktoria are real?"

"Yes. To everything." I said. I watched him as he sat looking out over the clearing for a few minutes and then suddenly he got up and held out a hand to me. "Where are we going?" I asked him. But he didn't say a word, he just smiled and I knew we were going to go find Adrian and Vikki.

Adrian's Point Of View.

"Were you being naughty little Dhampir?" I asked as everyone walked to the waiting cars.

"Adrian....you have no idea how naughty I've been lately..." Rose said with a wink. I just stood there with my mouth open in shock... I couldn't believe she said that.... "Close your mouth Adrian, you'll attract fly's." I looked past her to see Belikov laughing to himself in the car; obviously hearing what she'd said.

"Tease." I heard him say.

"What can I say....it's a gift!" Both Belikov and I laughed at that. She was indeed a tease, but that's why I loved her. I would always love Rose, but in the past couple of months, that had changed. For one...I knew she'd never love anyone other than the big brooding Russian that I had to go and help save.... and two... the other big brooding Russian that waltzed into my life recently. These Belikov's certainly had something about them that drew you in.

"Leave her alone." Vikki said with a slight slap to my arm. I shook my head and snickered to myself as we all got into the SUV. We got into the back row of seats with Christian, behind Rose, Dimitri and Lissa, but I couldn't let the fun stop... after all, she didn't answer my question, and there was nothing better than bantering with Rose. I leant forward in my seat and continued in my quest to see Rose blush.

"So Rose, you never did tell me what you were doing that was so intense that you pulled Lissa into you head." I could see she was about to say something 'classically Rose', but she stopped herself and started to sing....

"You and me baby we aint nothin' but mammals, so let's do it like they do on the discovery channel...." then hummed the rest. Lissa jerked her head around to glare at Rose and I could see she was speaking to her.... Dimitri & Christian choked in laughter and my spirit soared as I smiled back at my '_other_ cure' for spirits darkness. What I mean by that is, that when Rose is in top form, she is able to make some of the darkness in me disappear. No matter how long I lived, I would always need her in my life in one way, shape or form... even if it was just as friends.

"So, I can start calling him Bugs" I said with a nod in Belikov's direction, "and you Lola...? Can I?" She gave a quick giggle and then pulled her face into a fake seriousness...

"Lola? That's a good name... I like it. Quite fitting actually..." She looked over to Dimitri who was now looking a little confused by our conversation... but she just cuddled into him saying... "Come here Bugs, I need a cuddle."

"_Bugs!_I love it!" laughed Christian beside me... He had tears running down his cheeks, and Vikki asked me what it all meant so I explained it in whispers against her ear; my face partially buried in her hair. He scent was driving me nuts.... after I finished telling her I heard Dimitri giggle, _had he heard me?_ I thought. We drove for a little while longer, Christian giggling every now and again, then the cars stopped at some trees. Everyone got out and some of the guardians started walking into the woods.

"The clearing is a little walk from here." Said Pavel. We hadn't been walking all that long when Lissa suddenly stopped walking.

"I don't think I can walk any further. My feet and back are killing me..." she said. Dimitri smiled and walked over and picked her up in his arms. _Show off.... _I thought to myself...

"Then let me help." He said. She objected a lot but he ignored her and kept walking. We soon came to a small clearing, I'd been here before when I was younger, running here when I got too upset....I didn't know then what the cause was back then, I do now though. Dimitri put Lissa down and walked out with Abe and Christian.

"This should be interesting." Said Janine. Rose just mumbled to herself watching him intently. He tried to get fire to start in his hands but couldn't, and me being me couldn't resist...

"Having a little trouble with the ignition Belikov." I yelled. Rose punched me and the big bad Russian glared at me. Christian pulled him back to what they were doing, but it still didn't look like it was working.

"You're an ass Adrian." Rose chided. "If you want to know what really bad sunburn feels like....keep going. I won't stop him from making you feel all warm and crispy!" 'Crispy'...that was funny... I couldn't help but giggle. They kept going; even showing him how _they_ produced fire, but still nothing, then a thought came to me. I knew that Moroi power came from their emotions and at the moment; his strongest emotion was anger.... And I knew how to make him angry.... I just hoped I wouldn't end up 'crispy' as Rose puts it.... I leant over to Vikki and whispered.

"Your brother looks like he needs a little incentive and I know the perfect way to make his blood boil. Wanna help?" She nodded to me and smiled. I threw my arms around her and pushed her back onto the ground kissing her deeply. I almost forgot my mission as she filled my every thought, but I heard gasps and giggles around us. Then I felt Rose jump up beside us. We broke apart and I looked up to see Dimitri's face burning with rage and fire in his hands.

"_GET_ your hands _off_ her Adrian!" he yelled at me. _Shit... hopefully his aim will be off.... crispy is not a look I was after._

"Dimitri... look!" Rose yelled, "Look at your hands, keep the fire going." He looked at his hands and then back to us, he then turned around and pushed his hand out; throwing fire at a large boulder as he yelled in anger. _Mission accomplished.... _I thought to myself, grinning at how easy it was to get him angry.

"You _staged_ it!" Rose yelled softly. "You _idiot_, do you know how volatile he is at the moment? Not only can he consume you with fire now, but he has retained the strength and speed he had gained after he was tur... changed." I knew he'd changed into a Moroi, but I didn't quite realise that he'd kept a lot of strigoi attributes. I was watching him when he glanced back at me, I didn't know what he was thinking but by his aura, he wasn't mad anymore... confused, maybe a little hesitant, but definitely not angry. We sat there a little longer watching him wield his power, I could see that he wasn't needing the anger emotion anymore to produce it either, and I could see all three were now exhausted, well Abe and Christian were, not so much Dimitri. I saw Janine get up and walk over to Abe, leading him away, so I went to get up, grabbing Vikki's hand as I did.

"Come on," I whispered. She smiled and walked with me. I saw out of the corner of my eye that Dimitri was walking over to Rose and the others. "I thought I might have been toast there for a minute." I said to Vikki.

"I know... I got a little scared for you."

"Just me?" I asked with a smirk.

"Yeah. I _know_ he'd never hurt me...." I laughed as I shook my head.

"So, you're telling me that you wouldn't try to save me?"

"Hmm, well, I suppose I _am_ liking you a little more each day.... and I probably _would_ miss you if you weren't around." She said with an evil grin... I turned to stand in front of her and looked into her deep brown eyes.

"Wanna finish what we started?" I said. Her face didn't change but I could see the colors in her aura change from blues and purples into purples and pinks. She looked fantastic in those colors. She slowly walked closer, pressing her body up to mine; her face only an inch from mine. My heart picked up as I heard hers do the same, but she had to agree before I'd kiss her, I would never take something she didn't offer freely. We stood there like that for what felt like an eternity when she finally answered.

"Well, what are you waiting for Romeo?" She breathed against my lips. I smiled and closed the distance between our lips. The instant we touched my whole body reacted, her lips were like silk as I traced them with my tongue. She opened her mouth allowing me to enter. I pulled her into my chest tightly and deepened the kiss. I heard her softly sigh as she gripped her hands into my hair, her body curved backwards as it fitted perfectly against mine. We broke apart; breathing heavily and looking into each other's eyes. _"Wow." _She whispered. That was a bit of an understatement.... We'd kissed before, we'd even kissed...hard before but this was....different; it was.... defining. We both knew now that this was something we _both_ wanted and we both knew that we were going to make it happen. There was a lot I wanted to say to her, I knew I was falling for her, love was definitely there but was I 'in love' with her? Should I say it aloud? I put my hands on either side of her face as I stared into her eyes and with all of these questions swirling around in my head, my voice started of its own accord....

"I...."

"What?" she said. "Say it..." she whispered so low I didn't know if it was her or me...

"I.... think I'm fall...." Just then a twig snapped behind Vikki and I glanced up to see Rose and Dimitri about ten yards away from us. We broke the embrace but still held each other, our moment temporarily forgotten as we waited to see what her brother would do to me now.


	34. Peace Treaty

**Well, I'm finally back home again.... Sorry for the delay! I'm off to work tomorrow... busy, busy, busy.... But here's the next chapter, seeing as you were  
all such wonderful patient people!!! :-D **

**Don't forget to review... I love them so much... I will be answering all your reviews when I get home tomorrow... Very tired ATM!!! :-D**

**Sandy**

**Chapter Thirty-Four**

Peace Treaty

We saw them kissing intensely as we came around a group of trees. They pulled apart and I saw Adrian's face as he stared into her eyes. I didn't need to see aura's to know he loved her, the way he was looking at her told me everything. I glanced up to see Dimitri coming to the same conclusion. We were close enough now that I knew he could hear what they were saying and when a small smile pulled at his lips I couldn't help my curiosity anymore.

"What are they saying?" I whispered. He didn't get the chance to tell me because Adrian looked up at us as Dimitri walked on a stick. Vikki followed his eyes and turned to face us, both looking a little apprehensive, I probably would be feeling the same thing if I were them but I saw Adrian square his shoulders ready for a confrontation.

"Adrian." Dimitri greeted him with a curt nod... I thought he could have been a little nicer but something told me he was playing... "Viktoria..." The air felt a little....charged, so with the hand that was wrapped around his body, I gently dug my fingers into his side telling him to get on with it, but he kept his guardian face on as he continued. "I know what you did, thank you." He looked to Vikki for a few seconds and then looked back to Adrian. "I've been unfair to you Adrian, I know you've tried to help me; in your own way, so I just wanted to say thank you. And....to give you my blessing." Tears escaped Vikki's eyes as she fought to control herself. She took her arm from Adrian's waist and walked to her brother. I looked to Adrian who was staring in disbelief at me. I gave a small shrug of my shoulders and smiled to him.

"Spasiba Dimka, ya tak lyublyu tebya." She said as she kissed his cheek. He smiled back to her and looked up to Adrian.

"Treat her with the _utmost_ respect and I will do the same for you." He said.

"Always Dimitri, of _that_ you have my oath." Adrian said with complete honesty then he glanced over to Vikki and smiled to her.

"We're leaving in ten minutes." I said. "See you back at the car, don't be late." Dimitri nodded to them and we walked away. I quickly glanced back to see Vikki hanging off Adrian's neck, clearly excited. "That was very nice." I said to him.

"Yeah well, I've been known to show that side of myself every now and again." He grinned. We all got back to the apartment building but my father and Christian needed to go to the feeders. They'd used a lot of energy in the clearing and it made me think of how he was handling the energy loss. Apparently, we were going back again in the morning.

"How are you feeling after all that work?"

"I'm fine. It doesn't drain me like it does them. The advantages of not needing to feed." That thought suddenly making my mouth water... I swallowed hard against the memories I got when I thought about blood. "Are you alright?" he asked, obviously seeing my reaction. I nodded as I pulled him to the elevator, we'd called Robert on our way back to tell him of Dimitri's progress and I wanted to iron out a few more details of what would happen when we faced Sonya. We got to his door, which was already open and I smiled as I saw Yelena sitting with Tyler.

It wasn't long before everyone joined us after their feeding and we soon started talking more about Yelena's abilities and life. She had only known about her father for the last twelve months and what he used to be and they still were coming to terms with everything. She liked him well enough, but she was still to think of him as a father figure. I smiled as I thought about how lucky I was that I'd been able to forge a relationship with my father and I hadn't known him for as long as Yelena had known Guardian Beauchamp.

Apart from not only being able to see people's memories and also to show those memories to others, Yelena could heal like Lissa and she could dream walk and see auras like Adrian. But she didn't have to look at someone to use compulsion; she just had to think of their faces to form the connection. She also had the power of telekinesis....she could move things with her mind; but the most striking difference between her and the other spirit users.....she didn't need a bond mate....spirit didn't affect her like it did the others. She gave a little demonstration and Adrian said that looking at her aura, he could see it getting darker like Lissa's when she wielded her powers but when she closed her eyes, the darkness just faded away. She had an appointment later on with the Courts geneticist who was working closely with Dr Olendsky, maybe it would come in handy when our child was born. Apparently Adrian had called for a few pizzas to be delivered and everyone dug in, especially me.... I was starving! I noticed Yelena sitting back watching everyone.

"You better dig in before it's all gone Yelena." I said.

"I don't eat Rose. I survive purely on blood." I was shocked at this. Could that have something to do with my craving for blood all the time? Was I starving my baby of the blood it so obviously needed? I could feel myself panic as I looked up into Lissa's eyes. I was suddenly pulled into her head, but this time it was different... she wasn't there with me. _Oh Crap! She's in my head! _Just then we both must have snapped back to ourselves....

"_WHOA_!" exclaimed Lissa. "What in the _hell_ happened then?" she said.

_I think we swapped!_ I said privately to her in amazement. The possibilities that this produced flashed into my head. If I could swap with Lissa and she was somewhere in danger and I happened not to be with her, I could maybe take over her body and defend her....by proxy!

"Do you think?" she asked, obviously knowing my thoughts. "Should we try again?"

"Give it a go" said Robert. We glanced over confused at first and then remembered he could hear us. We looked back to each other and grinned.

_You go first Liss then I'll go into your head and see if I can make you move. _She nodded and then I saw her eyes go dull. I slipped into her head and smiled as I looked into my own face. I thought about standing up and Lissa's body complied.

"SHIT! It worked!" I said in Lissa's voice. I looked down to look at my...her...our hands and played with my/our fingers... I wondered if our bond still worked...

_Can you still hear me? _I asked.

_Yes, this is SO weird._ She said as she stood up and walked over to me.

"I never realised I was so short." I said laughing as I looking down at myself. I quickly glanced around at all the confused faces that were now looking at us. This 'realisation and experiment' came to us rather quickly and we didn't have time to tell everyone what was going on. "I'm in Lissa's body, controlling it and she's in mine."

"How in the hell?" my mother asked. Dimitri looked slightly stunned....

_Rose...I know you told me about this thirst, but it's as bad as anything I've experienced, how are you going to control it? _I looked at her/me and didn't know what to say. But with the 'thirst' thought in my head I realised that the same feeling was in Lissa's body just not as strong. That probably had something to do with the fact that she'd just fed. _Does anyone else know?_

_I don't know Liss, I honestly don't know. So this is what you experience? I can feel it in you, even now. Let's get back to ourselves shall we? _She nodded and we closed our eyes and quietly slipping back into our own heads. I opened my eyes as Lissa rushed at me pulling me into a hug.

"That was awesome. We're going to have to do that one day so I can see myself fight!" I giggled as I thought about it.... _A fight.... _I thought to myself...

"That's not a bad idea." I said. "Dimitri... how about it?" I didn't think he was going to say yes, so I thought I'd push a little to get the answer I wanted... "If you don't want to, I could always ask Tyler, I'm sure he'd love a re-match." I glanced over to him with a smirk.

"Just say when Rose." He said smiling back.

"Don't get your hopes up Mitchell." He said simply. I smiled on the inside, seeing him jealous did amazing things for my ego... Does that make me bad??? "When do you want to start?"

"Now is as good a time as any.... Lead the way hot stuff." He took a deep breath and shook his head.

"No Rose.... Run!" He said in a growl. _Oh Crap! _I thought as I took off.... I could hear everyone laughing as I flew out the door and I knew just how fast he was now, I hadn't run this hard in a couple of weeks, add that to the pregnancy and I was in deep shit! I knew where the gym was and I was running as fast as I could, I couldn't hear him but I knew he was behind me. I rounded the corner and saw the gym doors... I _knew_ I wasn't going to make them before he caught up to me, but I didn't know where he was so I just pushed my legs harder. About 50 feet from the doors, I saw a flash to my right...

I was still too far away so I turned to face him. Before I knew it he was in front of me, I only just caught a glance of him as I noticed his arm moving, I ducked away from his fist but I knew a leg would be coming at me any moment so I spun around hoping to avoid it. Wrong! I thought he'd kick up high at me, but he dropped down spinning and caught me behind my heels. I fell backwards landing hard, he tried to pin me but I was already twisting as his body fell onto me. My arm bent and I brought my elbow up hard, I heard the crack as it found its target. Somehow I managed to wriggle out from under him as his arms, legs and hands tried in vain to grab hold. As I came up into a crouched position, I kicked out; my heel landing hard against his chest as he turned on the ground to face where I went. I used the time it took for him to recover to cover the short distance to the gym. I slammed into the doors and ran to the far side behind the stack of mats. I had to slow my breathing as I knew he'd hear it, I couldn't do much about my heartbeat though. I peeked into the gap between two mats and saw him enter the gym. He stood there looking from side to side, then he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He looked up from under his eyebrows and smiled; directly at where I was hiding.

"Roza, I know you're here. No use in hiding." He said menacingly.... A chill shot through me as a memory flashed into my head, they were almost the exact same words he used at the trees when I got away from him in Russia. I swallowed hard as I closed my eyes willing the memory to leave.... I quickly looked through the mats again, I had to see his eyes.... he was gone. I slowly crept out from my hiding spot, my heart beating madly in its cage. _Where is he? _I thought to myself. My eyes darted around the gym, I knew this panic was uncalled for, I knew he wasn't.... I was being ridiculous. Just then I felt him fall behind me.... he'd been in the roof battens... Shit! I didn't look up..... I felt his hands grab my shoulders and that's when it happened. I didn't go into 'that' mode, but adrenaline surged through my body like I really was about to fight a strigoi, I felt more focused than I have been for a while... I spun out from his grip and kicked out backwards in one movement, my foot connecting with the side of his head. As that foot landed, I kept spinning and the other foot came up and my heel drove into his ribs. His arms came up blocking my fists as I lashed out.... I got a few more hits in and so did he... man he was fast. He got me around the neck from behind, I grabbed hold of his arm and kicked backward into his leg. I heard him groan hard as I used his arm as a leaver to pull myself up and over him, effectively swapping positions with him. I pulled my arm tightly around his neck and pulled him backwards, kidney punching him at the same time. He twisted in my arm and pushed me to the ground. His legs now pinned mine, his hands held one wrist each, his body completely covering mine. "_Rose... stop! _Open your eyes, _look_ at me.... Roza, look at me.... Maya krasaveetsa." Slowly my vision cleared and I looked up into his beautiful brown eyes....brown.... I closed my eyes as I felt them sting up with tears. I turned away from him knowing what had just happened, what I'd just thought... "Rose... what's wrong?"


	35. Blood ties

**Okay, to the spineless 'guest' who has been reviewing of late... you've got my attention... Is that what you want? As far as I can tell, you must have a pretty pathetic life. I really pity you that your only form of entertainment comes in the form of reading all of my stories only to send derogatory, error filled reviews. But you know, if you really want to get the attention you so obviously think you deserve, why not grow a spine and send in your reviews under a real name and not as a guest... I'm sure that you'd get more than your small little ego could handle... You really are pathetic. Get a life, better yet, get some talent and write your own stories... but let me know who you are so I can bow down to your writing brilliance... After all, you must be the worlds best author...  
I don't make you read my stories. If you find them so offensive to you imagined superiority... please, by all means, stop reading them... Trust me, I won't miss you. You do realise that I just delete them anyway... But then with your mentality, you probably don't. **

**But if you want to keep sending in your idiotic, pathetic, spineless, gutless reviews... please do. It's good to see that there are other people out there who have a worse life then me...**

**=x=**

**Okay, sorry for taking so long to update... With two stories going, it's a little harder to get them up as fast as I was before...  
I can't wait till you all read the next chapter of Alternate Universe... It's a crack up! hehehehe  
Anyway... Enjoy everyone...**

**Chapter Thirty-five.**

Blood ties...

I continued to keep my eyes shut tight and my head to one side. He let go of one of my wrists and he pulled my face back to his, wiping my tears away. I felt him kiss me and a traitorous sob escaped from me. "I'm so sorry..." I said to him. He pulled himself off me and sat beside me; his arms reaching around me pulling my body into his.

"Sorry for what? You didn't go into that fighting trance you go into, you fought with focus, why on earth would you be sorry?" I wanted to tell him, but I had to get myself under control first, and I didn't know how he'd react; he still held a lot of guilt over what happened in Russia.

"When you came into the gym... what you said... your voice..." the last part a whisper... he looked at me confused. "It was what you said...in the trees, when..." Suddenly he realised what I meant and guilt flooded into his eyes...as I knew it would. I turned away from him again and pulled myself out of his arms and stood up to leave. He grabbed out at my hand...

"Don't leave..." he whispered. Since getting him back I have _never_ looked at him and seen the 'strigoi' version of him, the one who hurt me, I only _ever_ saw the man I loved, but this particular time; what he said and how he said it, it just transported me back to that instance in time. I walked back to him and he pulled me into his lap. Looking into his eyes, all I could see was pain, pain that I just inflicted. "How often?" he asked. I knew what he meant... he wanted to know how many times had I looked at him and only seen the strigoi version of him.

"This was the first time. I'm so sorry Dimitri." He shook his head.

"You are the last one who should feel sorry Roza. I forgot; I try not to say the things that I said to you when..." he stopped and looked down at our joined hands. "I think that if you want to continue training, you should train with Mitchell from now on."

"_No_, that's not what I want. I want you, I know you won't forget about our baby and hit in the wrong spot, I know that I can train safely with you. I _trust_ you..." I reached up and touched his eyelids with my finger. "I hate seeing the hurt in your eyes." He opened his eyes and looked at me. "You can't protect me from the past, what happened, happened; neither one of us can change it, and I wouldn't even if I could." He looked at me like I'd lost my mind. "If that week had never happened...I wouldn't have you here with me now, I wouldn't be carrying your child and either you, me or both of us would probably be dead. If it wasn't for that week, I wouldn't have known that I could save you. I wanted you to start training with me again like we used to; when we started falling in love...we'll leave the hunting for a little later on." I said the last part with a little smile and he gave me a small one of his own that really didn't show any humour.

"I'd give anything to be able to take those memories away."

"Well, you can't. So how about we make some new ones. I love you Mr Belikov, more than I ever thought it was possible to love another person, now will you please try to punch me?" I grinned. He tried not to laugh, but a smile did escape as he shook his head at me again.

"I love you too Mrs Belikova and you're on." I smiled widely as we got up and went to the centre of the gym. We faced each other and fell into the fighting stance. We started to circle to the right, never taking our eyes away from each other, but watching each other's arms and legs in our peripheral vision. I smiled at him and then licked my lips. He shook his head as he leapt forward... We sparred for nearly an hour, well_ I_ sparred, _he_ blocked...and it was wonderful. We were walking back to the apartment laughing about some of the moves we'd done; he even gave me some more pointers... I felt on top of the world... Just then Dimitri's phone rang.

"Hello." He said. Whoever it was had his attention as Dimitri stopped walking and looked at me as he spoke. "Yes, we'll be there shortly, thank you Doctor." He closed the phone up and started walking again. "Let's get cleaned up shall we, the doctor has some results and I don't think he'd appreciate us in our current state."

We arrived at the clinic in half an hour as we borrowed the car of the apartment guard. "Thank you for coming so quickly Guardians, I'll get straight to it shall I?" we both nodded. "Rose, your blood work has me a little concerned. You're terribly anaemic and your blood is a little thicker than it should be. Normally that's caused by a kink in the clotting process, but there are markers in your blood which show that this isn't the case. We think that it has something to do with the baby; we think it's taking certain elements out of your blood for itself. If left untreated it can lead to widespread hormonal and nutritional deficiencies, miscarriage and other chronic conditions." Panic shot through me when he mentioned miscarriage... "You said that you've had a heightened awareness to blood since being pregnant."

"Yes, I have a burning in my chest and throat whenever I think about it or if I'm around it." Dimitri squeezed my hand. The doctor sat there nodding his head and tapping his pen on the desk.

"Have you tried to drink it?"

"No."

"Do you want to?" He didn't say this in a condescending way, but it did take me back a little... The thought of tasting it at first disgusted me... I'd always hated going into the feeding rooms, but then the thirst flared and I closed my eyes and swallowed hard. I really hadn't thought about how I would get blood into me if that's what I actually needed, but here I was...about to find out how it was going to...go down, as it were. I opened my eyes and took a deep breath. If I was going to do this, it wasn't going to be in front of Dimitri.

"I need to talk to the doctor alone, do you mind?" I asked him. He seemed to know why I asked him this as he gave me one of those annoying smiles he gave me whenever he knew what I was thinking. He leant over and kissed me softly.

"Of course, I'll be outside in the waiting room." Then he walked out the door. I looked back to the doctor.

"I don't know if I can do that." I said honestly. "What if I can't, how am I...?"

"Rose, it's alright. If you can't or you don't want to even try it, then we'll have to see if giving it to you intravenously will do the same thing. But I would like to try it the old fashioned way first, if you can. When Moroi feed, the blood goes to the stomach, same as when you eat, but when Dhampirs such as yourself can't eat for some reason, we'd normally put a tube in so you wouldn't starve, but I didn't think you'd want a tube stuck up your nose for the next three months." My forehead creased at the thought...

"Not friggin likely." I responded. He smiled and nodded to himself.

"Do you want to try? I can go get some for you if you want." He waited while I thought about it and as I did, the thirst was almost too much. I nodded quickly and he got up and walked out the other door that led out of his office. He came back in a couple of minutes holding a silver cup, a thermal one that we sometimes used if we were out on patrol in the dead of winter. I stared at it as he walked to me, but when he held the cup out I couldn't move; seeing my reluctance to take it he put it down on his desk and put a hand on my shoulder. "Would you mind if I leave you with it, I forgot to see a patient?" I nodded, silently thanking him for giving me the space I needed.

I heard the door click shut as I stared at the cup... I reached forward and grabbed it, my heart thumping, and took the lid off. The instant I caught the scent my mouth came alive... I swallowed a few times and lifted it to my lips. I was so confused...I'd spent all my life, slightly disgusted at watching Moroi feeding, but the smell of this blood was taking over my senses... I tilted the cup a little more and it touched my lips. I pulled it away with shaking hands and my tongue automatically licked at the liquid that was now on them... _OH GOD! _It was amazing... I brought the cup to my mouth again but this time I didn't hesitate... I drank hungrily... I could feel the warmth as it poured down my throat, that same warmth that was now spreading to every inch of my body. I pulled the empty cup away and licked the blood from my lips. I sat there feeling totally satisfied... and that feeling alone scared the hell out of me. Just then I felt the first movements of my child. I squeezed my eyes shut knowing that this was exactly what my child had wanted. I jumped out of my chair and ran out the door and headed straight for the waiting room.

As I got there, Dimitri looked up... I don't know what my face looked like but he flew across the room and stood a foot away from me. "What's wrong? Are you alright?" he whispered. I placed his hands on my stomach as I stared into his eyes. They widened and he smiled as he felt his child move for the first time.

"It's what it was waiting for..." I said. Realisation crossed his face as he comprehended what I'd just said.

"Was it...alright?" he asked. I nodded and looked to my stomach.

"But it's something I think I need to do alone, at least for the time being, do you mind?" He put a hand under my chin and lifted my face to his.

"No, I don't mind. You are the strongest person I know Rose, you will get through this, be it on your own or with me at your side. But always know that even if you _are_ in that room alone, I am still with you." Then he bent down and kissed me softly.

"Everything alright?" asked the doctor from behind me. I turned to face him.

"Everything is good Doctor. The baby moved...afterwards." I said. He smiled and nodded.

"Good. You didn't have a problem, any reaction?"

"No." I said slightly embarrassed to be discussing this in front of Dimitri.

"Well then, as you already know, Moroi need to drink at least every day, over time you will probably notice when the cravings start and you'll need to come in for some more... to drink." I really liked this doctor; he was doing everything he could so I didn't feel too uncomfortable. "If you need me for anything, any time of the day or night, you can reach me on my private cell." He said handing me a card.

"Doctor, can we speak to you for a minute?" I asked him. He nodded and then we followed him back to his office.

"What can do for you Rose?"

"Well, have you spoken to Yelena Zahkov yet? Done any tests?"

"Yes we've spoken, but no tests yet, they'll start tomorrow, why?"

"Well, you're obviously aware that she is the child of two Dhampir's, one of which was returned from a strigoi." He nodded but didn't say anything. "Like us. Well, she told me that she doesn't eat, at all. Do you think that's why I've had these cravings? Why they've been so strong?" He thought about that briefly and started to nod his head.

"Well, it's very possible I suppose. If in fact your child is like Yelena, then that could be what's going on. As far as I know, Yelena is the only Moroi that doesn't eat any food at all other than blood, so we're really going into uncharted territory so to speak. In a few weeks, I'd like to do a test called an amniocentesis, it's where a fine needle is put in through your stomach and a small amount of the amniotic fluid that is around your child is taken out. This fluid contains your child's DNA, and it can tell us the child's state of health, what sex and it may even tell us if the baby will be the same as Yelena; as far as eating habits go."

"Is it dangerous, to the child?" asked Dimitri.

"There are some slight risks," he said handing me a small pamphlet. "Read this and let me know if it's something that you wish to proceed with. Tests would need to be done on the baby when it's born anyway, to see if it needs anything other than blood, this way, we can find it out before hand and be ready." Just then I got a bolt of pain in my stomach and I groaned as I wrapped my arms around myself.

"What's wrong?" asked Dimitri.

"Um...Nothing," I said as I thought about what I'd just felt. "Oh my God Dimitri... it's Lissa. Something's wrong with the babies."


	36. Where Am I?

And just in case you missed this message in the previous chapter... Let me say it again for you...

**Okay, to the spineless 'guest' who has been reviewing of late... you've got my attention... Is that what you want? As far as I can tell, you must have a pretty pathetic life. I really pity you that your only form of entertainment comes in the form of reading all of my stories only to send derogatory, error filled reviews. But you know, if you really want to get the attention you so obviously think you deserve, why not grow a spine and send in your reviews under a real name and not as a guest... I'm sure that you'd get more than your small little ego could handle... You really are pathetic. Get a life, better yet, get some talent and write your own stories... but let me know who you are so I can bow down to your writing brilliance... After all, you must be the worlds best author...  
I don't make you read my stories. If you find them so offensive to you imagined superiority... please, by all means, stop reading them... Trust me, I won't miss you. You do realise that I just delete them anyway... But then with your mentality, you probably don't. **

**But if you want to keep sending in your idiotic, pathetic, spineless, gutless reviews... please do. It's good to see that there are other people out there who have a worse life then me...**

**Okay... Sorry for taking so long to get this one up, but I've had so much fun writing the next couple of chapters of Alternate Universe that I couldn't  
stop writing it... But I got it done... YAY! Anyway, here 'tis...  
Enjoy! Don't for get to Read and Review! :-D**

**Sandy**

**Chapter Thirty-six**

Where am I?

_Rose... Something's wrong..._

_I know Liss, we're coming. Is Christian there with you?_

_No, I'm here with your parents. _My parents? Odd... Just then I thought of something.

_Get my dad to bring you downstairs and wait there for us; we're only a minute away. _I then heard her talking to my dad but was still in pain. We got into the car that we'd borrowed to get to the clinic in the first place, the doctor included. We got back to the apartment building just as my dad was walking outside with Lissa in his arms. We got her into the back of the car where the doctor did some basic tests to see if she was alright and we flew back to the med centre where a gurney was waiting for us. It was only a matter of minutes when Christian walked in.

"Where is she Rose? Is she alright, the babies?" he asked in quick succession.

"Calm down Christian, the doctor's examining her," I said as I pointed down to the room. He ran off and opened the door slightly before asking if he could go in. They must have said yes because he went in. I debated if I should go into Lissa's head to see what was going on, but I thought that this was something private... I was getting a bit uptight at not knowing what was going on, I could feel that she was calm, but it still didn't make me feel any better. Finally Christian came out with a worried look on his face.

"_FINALLY!_ What's going on in there?" I asked him. He gave me a confused look.

"You don't know already?"

"No... I stayed out... Is she alright? Are the babies?" I said, almost mirroring his previous questions to me...

"Thank you Rose." He said sincerely. "And yes Lissa's fine, but it looks like she might go into premature labour. The doc is going to do a scan in a minute, just to check that everything is alright." I looked up to Dimitri, who had his guardian face on.

"So...Will they all be alright?"

"Well, we won't know until he does the scan. Do you want to go in to see..." Before he could finish the sentence I took off to her room. I heard some giggling and I also heard Dimitri say something like... 'That answers that question'...

I walked into her room and she finally unleashed her feelings through the bond. She was so worried, she felt so helpless. "I can't lose them Rose, either one of them."

"You won't, there are a lot of people here who won't let that happen. There are two more spirit users here that will also help at a moment's notice, you know that right?" She nodded but her anxiety didn't diminish at all.

"What happened with you earlier, with the doctor?" she had spoken to me after the doctor rang Dimitri, so I let her know where we'd be. She was genuinely interested, but she also used it as an opportunity to think of something else.

"Well..." I said as I tried to think of how to approach the subject of me drinking blood, when her eyes widened and she sat bolt upright on her bed.

"_ROSE_! Oh my God! You _drank_?" She was so shocked that I had actually done it, her and me both actually. "Are you alright?"

"Am _I _alright? Gees Liss..." I said shaking my head, she was the one in hospital, this time and she was asking if I was alright... "They want to do an amnio thingy to run some tests. As soon as I drank it, the baby moved. I think it was exactly what the baby wanted. I couldn't believe it... Liss, what if I've been starving my baby this whole time?" She reached out and took my hand in hers as we both sat on her bed.

"I don't think anything bad has happened to your baby Rose, but at least now you know what it needs...and wants by the looks of things, then you're going to have to...suck it up!" She said with a smile.

"Oh! A joke... Funny..." I said sarcastically... although it was quite funny... "I couldn't do it in front of Dimitri though... but, wow... it tasted so good." She softly giggled to herself and tilted her head to the side.

"I know. All these years you've screwed your nose up at me when I fed and now you know just how yummy it is..."

"Yeah, righty-oh!" Suddenly I felt her emotions get serious again.

"Rose, the doctor said that I have to have bed rest from now on, until the babies are born. I won't be able to help..." I knew what she was referring to. My upcoming battle with Mrs Karp and her minions.

"You were never going to be in the middle of that anyway Liss." I saw her expression change and that she was about to argue with me... "Don't even try it. You know damn well that I was never going to let you come with us. We're both pregnant Liss. It's bad enough timing that she has to rear her ugly Strigoi head when I happen to be pregnant, but I can't take the risk that you would get hurt."

"I know. I just wish I could be there to help, I may be needed."

"You're not the only healer we have you know." I said with a sly smile.

"Yeah, but I'm the only one who can help you if you really get hurt." I knew what she meant; she wouldn't lose our bond if she had any say in the matter. So I just nodded. Just then Christian and Dimitri walked into the room.

"Hey Sparky." I grinned at him.

"Hey Buffy." He grinned back at me. Dimitri came up behind me and put his hand on my shoulder. I looked up at him as the doctor came back into the room.

"I need to do a scan," The doctor said looking at me and Dimitri. I know that he wanted us to leave but I wasn't going anywhere.

"Well I don't know about everyone else, but I'm staying." I was being serious, but everyone else thought it was funny... The scan was done and it was found that the babies were fine for now, but they could come at any tick of the clock. They wanted to keep her in the hospital but she told everyone in no uncertain terms that that wasn't going to happen! I loved it when she grew some balls and stood up for herself. A compromise was made and she was allowed to return to the apartments, but she was to have complete bed rest and she had to have a nurse at all times, the babies would be monitored and at the first sign that anything was wrong, she was to go straight back to the hospital...

Adrian had come to the hospital to see if everything was alright and we told him what was going on, once he was satisfied that Lissa and the babies were okay, he left, so when we finally got home, we walked into a very different looking apartment. The lounge suite that used to be here was now gone and in its place was a cream leather lounge that was so soft that you felt like you were sitting on a cloud and another single lounge that was somewhere in between a bed and a lounge. Adrian had ordered this one be bought over so that she would be in comfort no matter where she spent her time. He also bought in another wide screen television for the bedroom, so that if she wanted to stay in there, she could. No matter his outward nonchalance, I knew Adrian loved us all and would do anything that was in his power for any one of us.

Once she was all set up, Dimitri and I went to our apartment next door. I shut the door behind me that joined the two rooms and looked up to see Dimitri standing with his back to me and his head down. I went around to see what was wrong but he had his eyes closed. "What's wrong?" I asked him. He opened his eyes and looked at me; all I could see was pain.

"I don't know what I'd do if I lost you, either one of you." He said as he placed his hands on my stomach. As I looked into his eyes I felt his hand move under my shirt to my waist and my body responded instantly, I smiled and pressed up against him.

"You won't," I said in an almost whisper. "I fought too damn hard to get you back, nothing is going to separate us again. I won't let it." I reached up on my toes and pulled him down to me. He scooped me up into his arms without breaking the kiss and walked to our bedroom. Once there he put me down onto the floor and held my face as he stared into my eyes. He never said anything, but it was like he was searching my eyes for some sort truth or answers, but then he pressed his lips to mine in a hard, desperate kiss; taking my breath away with the intensity of it. He didn't waste any time in ridding my body of the clothes I had on and his hands searched my body, eventually making their way down. One hand slipped in between my legs making me moan immediately. I reached up and pulled at the button on his pants; he took that task over as I got rid of his shirt. He reached around behind me; lifting me up by my butt and then walked over to the bed with me wrapped around his body. As he laid my back onto the bed, he entered me... "_Oh my..._" My words were cut off by his mouth as he continued kissing me, his tongue pushing into my mouth, mirroring the thrusts that he was making with his hips.

His actions soon pushed me over the edge and I yelled out in my own ecstasy, but he wasn't finished... His smile took my breath away as I opened my eyes... "I love you Rose," he whispered. His actions slowed, his kisses became softer as he brought his mouth along my jaw then down my throat... his tongue made circles on my skin. He reached behind me grabbing my butt and then pulled me on to him. I looked at his beautiful face and smiled, these moments...quiet, knowing moments, filled my heart, it was like our eyes said everything that couldn't be said in actual words. His hands caressed my growing stomach and then made their way up to my ever increasing chest, our bodies moving together as one. Then we rolled again and his thrusts sped up sending me into my second climax, then he kissed me again as he reached his own. He laid on my body, still inside me and I lifted my leg around him to keep him there. I reached up putting my hand on his cheek and smiled.

"I love you." I whispered. We stayed in this position for ages, just looking into each other's eyes, totally comfortable, totally in love but he soon pulled himself off me and laid against my side. We soon fell asleep in each other's arms and it wasn't long before the normal black nothing of sleep transformed into something else...

I was walking...somewhere... but it was black and I couldn't see anything around me, but at the same time, I could see where I was going... "Adrian?" I called out. It wasn't anything like one of his normal dream walks, actually he'd never done anything like this before, but it wasn't like any dream I'd had before either. "Adrian, if you're here would you like to color things up a little and maybe add a little light?" I stood there waiting for him to appear but he didn't. I was starting to get a funny feeling right about now... I could feel my heart start to beat faster, so I tried to change the scenery myself. Adrian had actually shown me how to do this and I'd been able to do it on a few occasions. I concentrated on a beach scene; I'd always loved the beach. As I concentrated, sand started to appear beneath my feet; I could smell the ocean and feel the sun's rays on my skin. I opened my eyes and saw that my beach was starting to form...then it started to flicker... "No!" I yelled in frustration, and then it was black again.

"I don't think so Rosemarie." Goosebumps prickled at my skin... _Who was that? _

"Hello?" I asked tentatively... "Who's there?"

"It's been a long time Rosemarie." I looked around me but all there was, was blackness... cold, empty blackness... I swallowed and had a terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach.

"Where are you?" I asked. "Show yourself."

"I'm everywhere Rosemarie..." the voice whispered. "In front... beside... behind... above, everywhere. I've waited so long and finally...you're here..." I _knew_ that voice, but no matter how hard I tried to put a face to it, I just couldn't.

"Who are you?" I waited for a reply but none came. I was really starting to freak out right now... I started walking again; I had no idea where I was going because there was nowhere to _actually_ go. No buildings, no trees, no..._anything_. I had been walking for hours it felt like, I don't know how far I actually walked, probably nowhere in this stupid, black dream. There was no sound here, not even an echo when I yelled out, nothing... The person from before hadn't come back and that feeling of dread in my stomach hadn't improved, if anything it was worse, so I sat down on the...ground if you can call it that, it was nothing really, it had not feel to it at all, it was as if I was just sitting in mid air. I wasn't hungry, I wasn't cold or hot...I wasn't even tired; I was just scared. I thought I'd give it one more try to see if anyone was out there...

"Hello..." Nothing! "_Shit_!" I whispered as a sob escaped from my chest.


	37. Be Careful What You Wish For

**I know, I know... I'm so late in getting this up... Sorry!!! :-D But here it is and I hope you enjoy it...  
I've had Alternate Universe streaming out of me and I couldn't stop writing... hehehe So, I had to wait till I got a chance...  
Sandy**

**Chapter Thirty Seven**

Be careful what you wish for....

Dimitri's Point Of View

Being at the hospital with Lissa and Rose scared me more than I let on. Before knowing Rose, my biggest worry what deciding on what to have for breakfast, then Hurricane Rose entered my life and stripped it of everything that was there before, but I must say that rebuilding it has been fun... It was a long wait at the hospital, not knowing if Lissa and the babies would be okay, it really shook me up to think that something like this could happen to Rose and my child. There were times when I wished that Rose could exist in a world where she could be safe, where nothing bad could reach her. But that wasn't the world we lived in, unfortunately. We got Lissa and Christian home and found that Adrian had done his best to ensure that Lissa could rest in total comfort for the last couple of weeks of the pregnancy, hopefully ensuring that she didn't deliver early. We got her comfortable and then made our way to our apartment. I opened the door and walked in a few steps and waited for Rose as she said her goodbyes for the night. I was deep in thought when I heard the door close behind me. Even though my eyes were closed, I was aware that Rose came around and stood in front of me...

"What's wrong?" she asked softly. I opened my eyes and looked into her beautiful face.

"I don't know what I'd do if I lost you, either one of you." I said. My hand automatically went to her small belly where my child was growing, but our eyes were locked together. As if it had a mind of its own, my hand found its way under her shirt and against her soft skin; she smiled at me as she pressed her body to mine.

"You won't," She whispered. "I fought too damn hard to get you back, nothing is going to separate us again. I won't let it." Her words held so much power in them and then she pulled me into a kiss as she stood on her toes to reach me. All the emotions that had swirled in me today suddenly took over and I scooped her up into my arms while still kissing her. I took her to our bedroom as my desire for her wouldn't wait much longer. I put her down on the floor and held her face in my hands, her beauty, both inner and outer, rendering me speechless. I'd hoped that what I felt in this instance was written in my eyes, that she'd know.... then my need for her was too strong to resist for one second more, I kissed her hard, like the harder it was, the more love it held.... I pulled her clothes from her body, I don't know if I ripped any of them, but at this point I didn't really care.... Once they were gone, my hands roamed her body, her beautiful sensual body; I loved touching her especially when I got a pleasurable reaction from her. I put my hand in between her legs and explored her, I felt her body respond and then she started to unbutton my pants. I was eager to help, so she left it to me while she got rid of my shirt. I couldn't wait any longer, I had to have her now... I lifted her up and she wrapped herself around me, and as I placed her onto the bed, I pushed myself into her...

"_Oh my...._" she started to yell, but I cut off her words with my mouth on hers... I wanted her so badly, I wanted to possess her as I pushed my tongue into her mouth as I thrust into her with my hips. I can't describe how it makes me feel to see her smile in ecstasy, knowing that I can make her feel like that, it brings a smile to my face every time. When she was finished she looked at me with so much emotion...

"I love you Rose," I whispered as we continued revelling in each other, I moved slower and kissed softer, making her skin come alive. I pulled her onto me so that I could drink in this beautiful woman who for some reason chose me. She gave one of those smiles that melted my heart and our eyes locked into one of our silent conversations. There were times, like this... when we didn't need words, our feelings flowed freely between us and it scared me sometimes that I had this connection with her, it scared me to lose her, I wouldn't be able to survive without her.... I rolled on top of her, and watched as her pleasure built again, I never thought in my wildest dreams that I could ever love someone as much as I loved Rose. She closed her eyes as she climaxed again so I took her mouth with mine and let myself go. We laid together, still joined for a while and then she wrapped her leg around my waist so that I couldn't move away.

"I love you." She whispered. Every time she said those words, my heart would skip and I just wanted to pull her to me and never let go. I moved off to lie beside her and it wasn't long before I saw her fall asleep... I could watch her like that forever; she was like an angel, _my_ angel. I studied her face, her hair, her body.... Every time I looked at her growing belly, I couldn't help the smile that would spread across my face. Knowing my child was in there....well, I can't put into words what I felt. I don't know how long I watched her for, but eventually I too fell asleep.

I woke up with the alarm going off beside me, so I reached up and turned it off. I rolled over to face Rose and at first nothing seemed wrong, I reached out and gently traced my finger down her cheek; that would normally make her stir, but this time....nothing. I smiled slyly as I thought she was acting.... I traced further down her neck, onto her bare chest, but still nothing. My brow creased in confusion, why wasn't she waking? "Rose, time to wake up my love." I said. "Rose." I reached over and pulled her face towards me..... "_Rose_!" I said a little louder..... _Shit! What's going on? _I sat up and grabbed her by her shoulders and gave a shake, but still she didn't open her eyes..... My heart was now beating so fast I thought it was going to break through my ribs. I put my fingers to her neck and felt her pulse beating steadily, maybe a little fast considering she was asleep, but it was beating strong.... "_Shit_!" I jumped out of bed and pulled my boxers on and ran to the door that separated our two apartments.... I reefed the door open and yelled.... "LISSA! Come here, something's wrong with Rose...." I left the door open and ran back into our bedroom.... She was still lying there where I left her so I pulled up the sheets to cover her body and that's when Lissa and Christian ran in.

"What's wrong with her!" she said in a panicked voice.

"She won't wake up." I said mirroring Lissa's panic. She jumped onto the bed and at the same time that she told Christian to go get Adrian and Oksana. Once he ran out she turned to me....

"Go get something to put on her." I went and got a nightshirt and together we put it on her just as the others arrived.

"What's wrong with her?" asked Adrian. I could see on his face and also on the others, that they were seriously concerned.

"We can't get her to wake up." Said Lissa. "Oksana, can you see if you can reach her?" Oksana nodded and closed her eyes, her brow creased in concentration and then her eyes opened.

"No, I can't... I can feel her mind working, but it's like she has her barriers up."

"Adrian," I said.... "Please try." He nodded and closed his eyes. My hopes rose as he stayed like that for some time.... this was a good sign....right? Finally he opened his eyes, but they didn't fill me with confidence like I'd hoped. "Did you speak with her?" I asked.

"No. I found her.... she was in darkness... complete darkness. There was nothing around, and I tried to walk to where she was sitting but I could only get so close, every step I took towards her was one step she moved away.... I tried to call out but it was like she couldn't hear me... she just sat on....nothing and was crying. Then I was about to leave and she looked up and called out to someone..."

"Who? What did she say?" Lissa and I asked together...

"I don't know. She kept calling out 'hello', and 'why won't you come back?', then she stood up and screamed... she said, 'you can't leave me here, why won't you let me go?'.... I think someone is keeping her...there." I felt a chill run down my spine as I looked at Rose's sleeping face. She looked so peaceful but now I knew that she was anything _but_ peaceful.... she was scared and there was no way to tell her that we were trying to help her.

"What can we do?" I asked the three spirit users, their faces mirrored my own until Lissa's eyes grew wide.

"Robert! Where are Robert and Yelena?" I didn't want to leave her, but I knew I was the fastest here and I also knew where Robert was. The queen had asked for them to stay at her private residence so that she could get to know Yelena and learn more about her abilities, so I jumped up and told them that I'd go and get them. I tore out of the building, thanking for the first time that I'd retained my strigoi speed and ran with everything I had in me. I got to the queen's private residence and asked the Guardians there to get Robert immediately.

"It's a bit early to wake the household Guardian Belikov, can't you come back later?"

"NO!" I yelled... "I can't! Go get Robert _now_ or I _will_." He gave a quick nod and picked up the phone.

"Sorry for the interruption Mr Doru," he said. _Stuff that! _I thought as I tore the phone from his hand.

"Robert, this is Dimitri. Something's wrong with Rose, seriously wrong, she won't wake up. We need your help." He didn't answer but I heard a sound as if the phone had been dropped. I waited to see if he would pick it up but I heard him yelling at Yelena in the background to get up. I handed the phone back to the guard and thanked him. It was only a matter of a minute or two before he and Yelena were in front of me, but it felt like forever. I looked at Yelena and asked.... "How fast can you run?" She smiled and I took that as meaning 'fast', "Good, but you need to keep up, I can't wait for you." I said.

"You won't have to." She said. I nodded and grabbed Robert's arm and threw him over my back and then we took off back to our apartment. When Yelena said I wouldn't have to wait for her, she wasn't kidding. She was as fast as I was; her abilities never ceased to amaze me. I didn't stop until I put Robert down on the floor of our bedroom and he looked a little flushed from the run. He went straight over to her, I could see that he was speaking silently with all the other spirit users, even thought Lissa, Adrian and Oksana couldn't communicate with each other, this 'internal speaking' they did was a lot faster than when said aloud. He nodded to them so I gathered that he'd got all the information that he needed and then he turned his attention back to Rose. He placed his hands on her head and closed his eyes and he was with her for as long as Adrian was.

"Dimitri?" Yelena's voice broke my concentration of what Robert was doing.

"Yes."

"Would you like to see where Rose is?" I'd forgotten that she could see memories... I nodded and she looked into my eyes. Suddenly our bedroom disappeared and I was standing in blackness. There was absolutely nothing here. I looked over and saw Rose walking....

"Adrian?" she called.... "Adrian, if you're here would you like to color things up a little and maybe add a little light?" She stood still now, looking around but nothing around her changed, then she closed her eyes and a beach setting started to come into view...it didn't last long before flickering back to black.... "No!" she yelled... Suddenly a chilling voice hissed from around us....

"I don't think so Rosemarie." The voice said... I had no idea who it was but by Rose's face I think she'd heard it before.

"Hello? Who's there?" she said. I could hear her voice tremble slightly and my heart broke... I could hear she was scared.

"It's been a long time Rosemarie." The voice hissed again.

"Where are you? Show yourself." She said.

"I'm everywhere Rosemarie..." the voice whispered. "In front.... beside..... behind.... above, _everywhere_. I've waited for you for so long and finally....you're here..."

"Who are you?" She waited for an answer but none came. She started walking again and I almost yelled out to her, but then I remembered that this was a memory, not what was actually happening.... Then the memory changed to Rose sitting down....on nothing really, but she was sitting. "Hello...." she called out.... "_Shit_!" I heard the sob she let out and my heart broke some more. I had no idea how to help her... She was somewhere that I couldn't run in and save her. I'd never felt so scared in my whole life. The memory stopped and I was now back in the room. I looked down and Robert was looking up at me.

"Someone is keeping her here." He said, "Rose couldn't recognise the voice at first, but now she knows. It's Mrs Karp."

"Can we fight, like Rose did with me and Oksana?" asked Lissa. Rose had told me about this and now that the bond went both ways, there was a possibility. But she was verging on having the babies and the doctor had given strict instructions that she was not to stress about anything. What if she went in and couldn't come back.

"I don't think we should try just yet in your condition Lissa. Let's just see if we can do this some other way first." She nodded but I could see her disappointment that she couldn't help Rose. I reached out and took her hand in mine. "Rose would kill me if I let anything happen to you...you know that right?" She smiled then... "Robert, where you able to talk to her?" I asked.

"Yes." He said, and then he looked at Lissa. "Apparently you're next Princess. She's just having a harder time getting to you." Lissa looked at me and then to Christian.

"Maybe we need to take the fight to her instead of the other way around." Lissa was starting to think like Rose more and more each day.

"Liss..." said Christian, "You can't, the babies...."

"Christian, she's already coming after me. Sooner or later she's going to work out how to pull me in too, but I'd rather take the fight to her." They shared a moment and the look on Christian's face told me that he wouldn't argue anymore, he knew she was right and even if she wasn't, he knew her well enough to know that when she was determined to do something, nothing and no-one would deter her. "We don't have long, she's either going to go after us physically or mentally. But the one thing we're certain of, is that the only way we have any chance of _killing_ her is physically. If she's this strong mentally..." she said as she motioned to Rose's body on the bed. "then we need to get Rose out now and meet her on _our_ terms...." Everyone knew she was right.

"Okay." Said Robert. "I'll go in with you Lissa. Together we'll bring her back." He reached down and took Lissa's hand in his.

"I'll help too." Said Oksana.

"Not without me you're not." Adrian piped up... I smiled as I saw Yelena nod her head as well. It soon became apparent that all the spirit users were going in to bring Rose back. It made me feel better knowing that Lissa would have the backup of the four others, I think it even made Christian feel a little better. She stood up and walked over to Christian....

"Be careful and come back to me." Said Christian. I felt for him, but we all knew that this was the only way. Lissa bent down to the chair that I was now sitting in and kissed my forehead.

"I'll bring her back to you, I promise." She said.

"Thank you. _Please_ be careful." I said to her. We moved Rose into the middle of the bed and the four spirit users all sat cross legged around her.

"We need something to tie our hands to Rose, we can't afford for our connection to be lost, we can't be split up." Said Robert. I had a quick think and I went to our cupboard and pulled out every tie I owned. Lissa and Adrian each held one of Rose's hands and we bound them securely with a tie, Yelena and Oksana had one hand bound to one of her legs and Robert's hands were placed on each temple and then secured. But Robert had one more request... each spirit user's hand that was not tied to Rose was now to be tied to another spirit user, he was sure that this way, their combined powers would ensure a positive outcome.

Robert merged with Lissa first to make sure he had a good connection and then Lissa closed her eyes and went to Rose. Then Oksana, Adrian and Yelena joined them straight after.

I looked up to Christian and said...."Now we wait." Then I turned back to Rose.


	38. Round One

**Howdy-Hoo everyone! Well, this and the next chapter was originally one chapter, but it ended up really long, so I split it up...  
That way I can update again quicker too!!! LOL Anyway... I hope you like it and I'm already saying... sorry for the cliffy!!! hehehe**

**Enjoy everyone... Don't forget to review!!! :-D**

**Chapter Thirty-Eight**

Round One.

Rose's Point Of View.

I was really starting to freak now... I had no idea how long I'd been here for, it felt like days, I just couldn't tell anymore. I had a feeling like I was being watched but I looked all around me and saw nothing... nothing but the black hole that I'd been in for God knows how long. "Who are you?" I yelled out... "I know your voice....you know I'll work it ou...." Then the realisation of who had spoken before hit me like a tonne of bricks. "Mrs Karp? It's you isn't it? Sonya Karp." Then an almost hysterical laugh surrounded me....

"I thought it would take you longer to remember me Rosemarie. Now all we need is to bring the Princess to the party and we'll be set."

"Leave her alone!" I yelled.

"Don't worry Rosemarie, as soon as I find a way through her barriers, she'll be here with you, you won't be lonely for too much longer." I thought that Moroi powers were lost to them if they turned strigoi, but it looked as though spirit users might keep some of theirs... _that_ was a scary thought...

"How are you able to do this?" I asked; I waited for an answer but all I got was another one of her evil laughs that faded away... I stood in defeat because I knew this was something I couldn't just fight my way out of... I suddenly became aware that I wasn't alone, thinking Sonya was finally going to show herself, I spun around to see Robert standing there. "Robert." I said in a whisper. "Is it really you?"

"Yeah, it's me Rose. It's Sonya?" He asked, I nodded because I didn't trust my voice at the moment. I hated crying and it seemed like I'd been doing a lot of that lately... I had to toughen the hell up. "Robert...she's going after Lissa, she trying to..."

"I know, I heard her." He interrupted. _We're trying to work out a way to help you. _He said to me privately... although I don't know how private it would be considering this was all going on in my head. He looked me up and down, probably at my aura, although I hadn't expected it to work in here...in this dark place. _I have to go, before she realises, but I'll be back.... I'll let him know. _

"Thank you Robert." I mouthed to him, and then he faded away. I stood there wanting him to come back immediately, but he didn't... I knew he'd be there with Lissa, Christian and Dimitri, probably Adrian too... They'd all know what's going on now and I knew they were trying to work out a way to get me out... I just had to be strong and wait...

"Hello Rosemarie." I spun around to see Mrs Karp standing in front of me. The scars she gave herself in life were still with her now, but her once scared demeanour was now replaced with pure evil. She looked at me like she was looking at my aura, but she never said anything about it... "You've grown into quite a warrior, haven't you? I bet you have a number of admirers." She started to circle me, but I didn't think she was going to pounce or anything. "Oh...what do we have here? A bun in the oven?" Fear for my baby tore at my heart and my hands instinctively cover my stomach.

"You can't hurt my baby, not here...this isn't real."

"Ah... but that's where you're wrong, my dear Rose. You see, in here.... what happens in your mind, happens physically too. You can't have a strong body without a strong mind; you of all people should know that. Lose your mind; you lose your body too. Dreams can be deadly Rose... if you _die_ in here...." She lifted her eyebrow, ending her little rant, leaving me to fill in the blanks. My heart beat double time thinking that my child could be killed and there was nothing I could do about it. "I think this is _wonderful_ Rosemarie. Just think of all the things we can do together until the Princess gets here, and then once she does...." in the blink of an eye she was standing an inch in front of me. "Then I can take my time with you _both_!" She started laughing again as she faded away...

I stood there with my head down; I closed my eyes as I tried to get a grip on my escalating panic. I didn't know what that would do to me in here. I knew what this panic would mean out there...ghosts, and lots of them...headache, pain... But in here...I didn't know if they would come to me here or if they'd just hurt me physically. AAHHH!! It was all getting way too much for my brain to handle. Just then I noticed something flickering in my peripheral vision. Lissa!!

"Lissa? No...." I whispered... "Oh _SHIT_! _NO_!! No, no, no..... _NO_!" She's finally done it; Sonya's finally worked out how to get to her... Bloody hell!!! I ran to her; my heart breaking... "Lissa... try to get out... quickly before she can keep you here..." Just as I reached her, I saw Robert appear behind her with a smile and my pace slowed to where I was now only mindlessly walking. They were both smiling at me. Lissa opened her arms as she walked over to pull me into an embrace.

"We're here to help Rose."

"No Liss, she'll keep you here, you have to..." then suddenly Oksana appeared, then Adrian, then Yelena....

"_HOLY SHIT!_ You're all here? Oh God... No... She'll keep you all here..." My panic was just about to break into something that I didn't think I could keep control of, and I think Lissa could tell.

"Rose, settle down. She won't keep us here, I promise. We're just here to get you back." The smile on her face soothed me somewhat, but I was still unsure that whatever they had planned would work. "We have a plan." She said with a wink... Then we heard it....the laugh. She was back and she was aware that I was no longer alone. Sonya appeared and was walking towards me clapping her hands.

"Well, well, well, Rosemarie. What do we have here? You invited all of your friends along for me to play with, how nice of you." She was looking at us with the most evil grin I'd seen in a long time and every few seconds she'd lick her lips slightly. "Welcome Princess, I hope you like your stay, I don't know how long it will be though, but seeing as you brought some more _snacks_ with you, I suppose I could keep you till last." I saw Liss look over to Robert and he nodded to her.

"Oh, we won't be staying long; we've just come to get Rose." Sonya raised her eyebrows in surprise and then started laughing hysterically.

"Oh my God.... you're actually starting to sound like her. It's incredible. Is this what the bond has done to you? It actually makes me sad now that I didn't have myself a bond mate too... a really big badass bond mate...and if he happened to be a stunningly handsome Russian...all the better. _Yummy_." She said winking at me. I could feel my anger starting to boil. Not only was she trying to take me away from Dimitri, but she was threatening my child's life and now Dimitri's.... I was about to launch into a tirade of abuse when I felt Lissa's hand on my shoulder.

_Not yet Rose. _She said. It suddenly occurred to me that I was having a 'private' conversation with Lissa....while she was in my head!!! I shook my head as this whole situation was getting mentally tiring...or was _I _just tired...I couldn't think properly.

"Now that the whole gang is here, there are a few things that I need to put into place before this 'party' gets going." Then she bent down to my height and growled the next threat to me... "But I will be back soon Rosemarie, don't you worry your pretty little head about _that_." She stood up to her full height with a smirk on her face and then started to back away. Then the smirk on her face fell suddenly and her eyes started to dart around the room, her forehead creased and she started to look....panicked?

"What's the matter Sonya?" Robert said in a knowing voice. "I thought you were going somewhere?" She glared at him and her top lip quivered as she growled softly, baring her fangs.

"_What_...have you done?" Her red ringed eyes turned colder than I'd ever thought were possible.

"I don't know what you mean." A slow smile stretched across his face and suddenly I realised that he must have been stopping her ability to leave... _he_ was holding _her_ here! _**Brilliant**_! Now I have something to fight.... if I can die here...so can she! The glare she gave him was filled with so much hate it sent shivers down my spine. I knew she'd been evil a long time, but it still took my breath away. Suddenly she balled her hands up and lifted her head up and let out the most blood curdling scream I've ever heard.... She was enraged... _NOT_ good! I was here with an enraged strigoi and I had five Moroi beside me... well at least I only have one to deal with, now if only I had something to _kill_ her with...

But my life could never be so bloody easy.... just as I prayed for a stake, what should turn up but another friggin strigoi! _SHIT_!

"You know what?" she said in a menacing voice. "You're just too much bloody trouble, you always were Rosemarie. As tempting as your prolonged suffering is to me, I just don't think I am in any sort of mood to put up with you anymore." With that her eyes darted over to the male strigoi and he suddenly leapt at me. I had nothing to fight with, no stake, no knife...and in this black hole she'd put me in, I couldn't even find something to use in place of a normal weapon. All I could do was be on the defensive and try to get the strigoi in a grip where I could _maybe_ do some damage. I blocked time and time again, all the while watching where Sonya was. I couldn't let her get to the Moroi while I was busy with this dickhead....


	39. Round One Part Two

**Well Howdy-Hoo Everyone.... I'm so sorry I'm late in putting this one up... Well, Everyone is split as to what I should do in Alternate Universe...  
It's neck and neck with Rose giving in now verses giving in later... Hmm... What should I do??? (Insert evil laugh here!) hehehe**

**I hope you all enjoy this chapter as much as I did writing it... Don't forget to review!!  
Sandy**

**Chapter Thirty Nine.**

Round One – Part Two

I had taken a few hard hits and I could feel myself starting to weaken. You could only be punched, kicked and thrown around so much before it started to take its toll... Suddenly, the world around me started to change, the blackness soon started to resemble the gym at St Vladimir's and before I knew it....a beautiful gold handled, silver stake; delicately engraved with a rose design was suddenly in my hand.... Adrian... If we got out of this, I vowed I would give him the biggest kiss _ever_! Well.... sort of....

Feeling that metal in my hand gave me a new lease on life, I was soon on the offensive, swiping the extremely sharp point of the stake across the chest of my opponent. In the background I caught flashes of Sonya screaming and standing in a weird position, but I couldn't take my eyes of this one long enough to see what was happening.

_Hurry Rose. _I heard Lissa say to me... _she can't be held much longer. _I swung my leg up and kicked the male strigoi to the side of his head. As my foot landed I crouched down and punched him fair in the groin and as he doubled over slightly, I reached up with the stake and slipped it in through the ribs and into his heart. His eyes scrunched and for an instant I thought I saw a smile touch his mouth, but then it was gone (if it was actually there)...in an instant and so was any light that was in his eyes. He fell down onto the floor and as he did, I looked over to where Sonya was being held. She looked like she was ready to pounce, but her legs were unmoving. I looked over to my friends and saw Oksana's face scrunched up in deep concentration... she was holding her still and I knew Robert was stopping her from leaving, Adrian was supplying the 'location and weapons'... I knew they must be getting tired and through all this, I could feel the steady increase in darkness that was trickling into me as Lissa was using spirit, as were the others and I wondered if I was getting some from them too... My anger was nearly at the worst I'd ever experienced... my vision was turning red and all I could think of was murdering Sonya Karp!

I pushed my legs into an instant sprint, my eyes solely focused on the strigoi in front of me but just as I got to her she moved.... I heard a sigh from beside me but my murderous intent was still locked onto my target. She turned and started to fight me... she was strong I'll give her that. She came at me like a banshee, arms flying, teeth bared.... I blocked most of her punches but she was so fast... then an image of Dimitri flashed into my head... and the threats she'd just made reverberated in my ears, I heard myself yell as I flew into a blind rage. The stake in my hand felt like it was merged to my body, it became one with me and it flew around like this dance had been well choreographed. With deep satisfaction I felt its tip slice into her chest, her scream confirmed it and then before she knew what happened, it sliced into her arm on its way back. She stumbled back in pain and gave me a horrified look..._YES_!....I leapt at her and she fell back onto the mats, I brought the stake up into her ribs in one swift move and she screamed once more in agony, her eyes nearly popping out of their sockets as she writhed on the floor beneath me.

_ROSE! Finish it already so we can leave..._ I took an enormous amount of pleasure knowing that the silver that I held in her body was just far enough away from her heart that she wouldn't die, but it would be absolutely agonising to her.... I could feel the darkness swirling in my body and I knew it was wrong, but I just couldn't let it go.... "_ROSE_!" Lissa shouted from behind me.

"Rose... kill her... finish it..." the others were trying to make me stop, I blinked as she continued to scream on the floor, so I slowly pushed the stake in further and further until it finally pierced her heart. She stopped and then I heard the others coming up behind me... I swung my head around and glared at them... the blackness of spirit still had me firmly within its grip. Robert must have let Sonya go as her body and that of the other strigoi vanished from the gym floor.

"Let's go home Rose." Lissa whispered softly. My hands trembled as did my body, the adrenaline merging still with the darkness. From my crouched position on the floor I could see them back away as they started to fade. Suddenly my eyes opened and a bright light was blinding me as I screamed. I felt like I was tied down onto something. There was screaming and yelling all around me... _'UNTIE US...'_ I couldn't make anything out as I thrashed out at my bindings... _'HURRY!'_ The voices sounded as panicked as I was angry... I felt a scream coming from my throat as the rage burned on and on.... I felt my legs suddenly free and I tried to kick out, but then they were held again... more so than last time... my arms now felt more restraint as well and still the voices were all around me...

"**LET....ME....**_**GO**_!" I screamed... I thrashed and fought with everything I had, but I couldn't get myself free....

I heard a distant voice..."Roza..."

I screamed again but I was so tired... I'd fought for so long and I'd killed...again. But I couldn't die like this... I was being held down, probably waiting for their boss to come and finish me off... I _had_ to get away....

"Roza, it's me..."

I _had_ to fight...

"Roza... I love you..."

I _had_ to.... I had to.... My body was so tired and I could feel the warm tears falling down my cheeks.... The last of my adrenaline was slipping from my body...

"Rose, I'm here, open your eyes." I knew that voice. Dimitri..... My breath slowed and I opened my eyes and I could see blurry images surround me...

"_Oh_ _God_..." I whispered... "Go away... I didn't summon you... go away..." I didn't know why the ghosts were here, I didn't panic, I didn't need them this time. Why were they here? They shouldn't be here...

"Roza, look at me." What was Dimitri doing here? Was he.... I'm so confused! I opened my eyes again and his beautiful face came into focus in front of me... I tried to reach up to him but something was holding my arm down. I looked over to the right and looked into my mother's face.

"Mom?" I whispered... How on earth was she here...? Her face held so much worry and it was etched into her eyes...

"Roza..." I turned back to Dimitri and smiled.

"Hi..." I said, my voice coming out in a croak. The smile that spread across his face made my heart leap... but tears freely fell from his eyes... "Why...are you crying?" He looked over to where my mother was and nodded and I felt her let my arm go. I reached up and touched his cheek.

"Are you okay?" he asked me.

"Yeah, but why are you crying?" He gave a short laugh and pulled me up into his arms.

"I thought I'd lost you." He said. I could hear the restrained emotion in his voice. "I couldn't....._do_ anything....to help you." I heard the last part catch in his throat. I pulled back and looked into his eyes and saw so much pain in them.

"I don't....understand. What do you...?" I was going to ask him what he meant, but then I remembered... I was in the dark... alone.... then it all flooded back to me... "Sonya!" I whispered...

"Shh... it's all over now. She's gone. She can't hurt you anymore." He said. It was then that I realised that my room was full... Lissa was in Christian's arms; tears streaming down her face. Oksana sat on the floor in Marks arms; each healing the other... My mother sat beside me on the other side of the bed to Dimitri and my father and Vikki stood behind her. Tyler Mitchell stood beside three other Guardians that I'd seen in the building before and in the distance I could see Robert sitting on the carpet with his head in his hands; Yelena stood beside him.

"I'm going to need someone to help get him downstairs so that he can get this out of him." Said Yelena. I remembered what Robert had done... my eyes darted to Dimitri.

"Help him... please; he did so much, please help him." He looked over to the other Guardians and they walked over and helped Robert up. Yelena and Tyler went with them.

"Are you sure you're okay Rose?" my mother asked me. I looked at her and my father and saw not only worry, but fear in their eyes.

"Yeah, I'm just so tired." The thought of going to sleep however filled me with dread. "What if she comes back?" I whispered.

"She won't Rose." Said Lissa. "You killed her. Remember?" I nodded as I remembered watching her struggles diminish into stillness. Then I remembered what she'd said..._'if you die in here, you die out there.' _I sighed as the dread flowed away...

"I'm so thirsty. Can I have something to drink.... and I'm starving." Then everyone around me started to laugh...

"Welcome back Buffy." I looked into Christian's face and saw the tears that had fallen.

"Thank you brother." I said to him, I knew what it would have done to his nerves when Lissa did what she did. He let go of Lissa and walked over to Mom's side of the bed and she got up so that he could sit down beside me. He put his hand on my cheek and then leant over and kissed my other cheek.

"You scared me. Don't ever do that again, you hear me." He whispered in my ear only loud enough for me to hear. I smiled and nodded at him and then he stood up and went back to Lissa. Then I saw Adrian walk into the bedroom from outside with a bottle of Vodka in his hand. I smiled as I remembered my promise; he smiled back but his face only showed confusion. I held out my arms to him so he came over to sit beside me.

"I can't thank you enough for what you did. If you hadn't changed my surroundings when you did.... I didn't know how much longer...."

"It's alright, that's what friends do for each other." I shook my head as I got myself under control; I took a deep breath so that I could continue.

"Adrian, I almost gave up and then you gave me my stake.... If you hadn't...." I closed my eyes and shook my head, and when I felt I could speak again I looked into his beautiful green eyes. "When I realised what you'd done; giving me a weapon," I smiled then.... "I made a promise that if by some miracle we got out there alive, I would give you a big kiss." So I reached over and grabbed his face and planted my lips squarely on his. It wasn't an open mouth, romantic kiss.... it was a "thank you for saving my life" closed lipped type of kiss. "Thank you, and I'll love you forever." A huge smile spread across his face and he touched the end of my nose with his finger.

"You're very welcome little Dhampir, and I love you too. I'll _always_ be here for you, you know that right?" I nodded. He looked at me for a few seconds and wiped the single tear that had gotten away from me, then got up and went over to Vikki and wrapped her in his arms. I looked over to Dimitri who was just sitting there watching me.

"I love you so much." I said to him "She threatened you...and our baby." I whispered before the waterworks started up in earnest...


	40. Round One DPOV

**What on EARTH??? Two chapters in one day.... see how my I love you guys!! hehehehe You've all been so nice waiting for me... I've had a couple  
of busy, busy days... We had a great Australia Day yesterday so unfortunately didn't get much writing done.  
****Enjoy everyone and thanks for all of your reviews.**

**Sandy**

**

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**Previously on Eternity.... LOL!**

"Adrian, I almost gave up and then you gave me my stake.... If you hadn't...." I closed my eyes and shook my head, and when I felt I could speak again I looked into his beautiful green eyes. "When I realised what you'd done; giving me a weapon," I smiled then.... "I made a promise that if by some miracle we got out there alive, I would give you a big kiss." So I reached over and grabbed his face and planted my lips squarely on his. It wasn't an open mouth, romantic kiss.... it was a "thank you for saving my life" closed lipped type of kiss. "Thank you, and I'll love you forever." A huge smile spread across his face and he touched the end of my nose with his finger.

"You're very welcome little Dhampir, and I love you too. I'll always be here for you, you know that right?" I nodded. He looked at me for a few seconds and wiped the single tear that had gotten away from me, then got up and went over to Vikki and wrapped her in his arms. I looked over to Dimitri who was just sitting there watching me.

"I love you so much." I said to him "She threatened you...and our baby." I whispered before the waterworks started up in earnest...

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**Chapter Forty**

Dimitri's Point Of View

I sat on the chair beside her bed and watched her silent face. It had been exactly fifteen minutes since the five spirit users went to help Rose. Every now and again one would sigh, or their forehead would crease, and Christian and I would look at each other and wonder what on earth was going on. Then Robert smiled.

"Did you see that?" I asked Christian.

"Yeah, Lissa's smiling too." He said. This was the first time I felt like there was hope, that they were winning the battle. I didn't know how much longer they could keep this up. I knew how much energy it took out of them when they used spirit so I knew this would be draining. There was a knock at the door but I couldn't take my eyes off Rose. I felt a hand rest on my shoulder and I turned to see Janine and Abe.

"Janine, Abe.... How did..?" I stuttered.

"Christian called us, didn't you know?" I looked back at Rose and shook my head slightly.

"He's been a little out of it." Said Christian.

"What's going on?" I heard Janine ask. Christian must have realised that I wasn't going to be talking any time soon, so he got them up to date.... Janine walked around to the other side of the bed and stood behind Adrian whose hand was bound to Rose's. Suddenly his head rolled to the side and his forehead creased in concentration. "How long have they been...together?" Asked Janine.

"It's been nearly twenty minutes." I said not lifting my eyes away from Rose. It was only a minute or two later that the door opened and in walked Vikki. I later found out that Adrian had slipped a note under her door explaining that something was wrong with Rose but he didn't have time to explain. I think she was a little peeved that I hadn't rung her... I hadn't realised that Guardian Mitchell was here, I would have to find out how he knew later... I had more important things on my mind right now. Suddenly Oksana let out a loud sigh and started panting, that bought Mark to her side, but he didn't touch her, he obviously knew better. Rose's eyes started darting around under their lids and her breathing escalated to a point where if she wasn't already out to it, she would have passed out.... her arms and legs started to move and I realised that she must have been fighting....inside. I didn't know if we could touch her, but I was scare that she was going to loosen the binding and would lose one of the spirit users. "Mark, can we hold Rose while they're all connected?'

"I don't know... I can't see why not, just don't touch them..." I nodded.

"Quickly," I told all the guardians. "Hold her down... if she's fighting she could hurt one of them." Between me, Janine, Mitchell, and the other three that came with him, we held her securely while she fought beneath our hands. Then I saw her right arm push forward and her body stopped.... I looked to her face but what I saw frightened me....

"She's taken the darkness...." I looked up at everyone, those who knew what I was talking about took a firmer grip and the others copied when they saw the change in our demeanours. "If they get her out.... be ready." Just then, a tear fell from Lissa's eye as she moaned and my heart dropped.... _"Shit."_ I whispered as I looked up to Janine... I was seriously going to go insane if they didn't come out soon...

"_ROSE_!" Lissa shouted from beside me. Everyone jumped and waited to see if they were coming out, but they didn't... I could feel my panic rising and I felt like I was going to throw up... A terrible smile pulled at Roses mouth, but it held no humour... then her arm moved again...slowly.

"Dimitri." Christian called... "Look." He pointed to Robert and I realised that his face was no longer in deep concentration, he was calm again. And then Lissa smiled.... All five spirit users then straightened up and one by one they opened their eyes.... I was about to ask what happened when all hell broke loose. Rose let out a scream that would chill a strigoi to the core... As she thrashed everyone was yelling...

"_UNTIE US..." _Yelled Lissa... _"HURRY!"_

As we did our best to hold Rose down, Christian, Vikki and Abe untied the spirit users from Rose's limbs. It was absolute chaos... She was so strong, more than normal...

"Watch out for the baby..." I yelled as Rose let out another blood curdling scream. She was fighting with everything she had and I knew it was the darkness. Through all of this I saw Mark pull Oksana off the bed and hold her in his arms on the floor. Christian had Lissa, but she looked in better shape than the others... and then it clicked... Rose had taken the darkness from Lissa, and judging by what was happening at the moment, she probably got some from the others too while they were all connected. This was the worst I'd ever seen it and I hoped she could find her way out...

Rose kicked out and Mitchell and Vikki lost their grip for a moment, but they soon had control again as they used their bodies to pin them down. Janine and I did more or less the same to her arms before she could get free. I looked up and saw Lissa crying into Christians chest... she was scared for Rose, but most of all, she knew this was happening because of the darkness Rose had taken from her.

"**LET....ME....**_**GO**_!" Rose screamed... She kept fighting us with everything she had and I knew I had to do something...

"Roza..." I said as close to her ear as I could get.

She continued to scream but I could feel her tiring. I looked at Janine again and she gave a quick nod, she felt it too... so I continued.

"Roza, it's me..."

The thrashing and yelling started to wain...more and more...

"Roza... I love you..." I whispered. And then I saw tears fall from her eyes... I was reaching her, I knew it...

"Rose, I'm here, open your eyes." Her body stopped and her breathing started to slow... I watched her face to see any change and then I saw her eyes start to open... She wasn't looking at anything in particular.

"_Oh_ _God_..." She whispered... "Go away... I didn't summon you... go away..." At first I didn't understand what she was saying...

"Roza, look at me." I said. She blinked furiously and then turned her eyes to my voice, and then they focused. I saw her arm try to move but Janine held it tightly, Rose turned and saw her mother.

"Mom?" She whispered... She looked so confused... probably wondering why her mother was holding her down... but we had to make sure that the darkness was gone before letting her go. We would have a hard time trying to get her again if it hadn't and I didn't want the baby hurt.

"Roza..." I said again, and she turned back to me.

"Hi..." She said in a croaky voice. That one word made my heart leap and I had to work hard to not burst into tears, but a few escaped as I smiled at my beautiful wife who was now safely back with me. "Why...are you crying?"

I looked over to Janine and nodded to let her know it was alright to let her go and as she did Rose lifted her hand to my face.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, but why are you crying?" I let out a laugh as I couldn't believe after what she'd just been through; she was asking me if I was alright....

"I thought I'd lost you." I said, I didn't want to break down in front of everyone, but I couldn't tear my eyes away from her either. "I couldn't....._do_ anything....to help you." I had to stop... all the heartache of the last few hours was now caught in my throat.

"I don't....understand. What do you...?" I don't think she remembered at first what had just happened, but I saw the change in her eyes when it all came back to her. "Sonya!" She whispered...

"Shh... it's all over now. She's gone. She can't hurt you anymore." I said. Her eyes panned the room, resting on all of her family and friends that had just helped fight an unbelievable battle. As she looked over to Yelena and Robert, Yelena spoke.

"I'm going to need someone to help get him downstairs so that he can get this out of him." Rose looked up at me with pleading eyes...

"Help him... please; he did so much, please help him." I looked up at the other guardians who had now let go of Rose and they went over to help Robert. After they all left, our attention went back to Rose.

"Are you sure you're okay Rose?" Janine asked her. This was the first time that Janine had seen Rose when she was in the grip of the darkness, and I think it really put the wind up her. It had taken all of our strength to hold onto Rose and it was something that she hadn't expected and for the first time ever, I saw respect in Janine's eyes for her daughter. Respect for how much she suffered every day, respect for the bond between the girls that she'd never really understood.

"Yeah, I'm just so tired." She said quietly, and then panic crossed her face... "What if she comes back?"

"She won't Rose." Said Lissa quickly. "You killed her. Remember?" She thought about that and then nodded. I could see she was thinking about something but then she relaxed.

"I'm so thirsty. Can I have something to drink.... and I'm starving." That's when we all knew she was going to be fine... Rose loved her food.

"Welcome back Buffy." Said Christian. He'd been so worried while the battle raged, both for Lissa and for Rose. He and Rose were so much alike, they were both so stubborn, but I knew they shared a deep love for each other, they just showed it by their constant bantering...

"Thank you brother." She said. I could see just how much those three words had meant to Christian, their relationship had always been fiery, but each knew they loved one another... because he let go of Lissa and walked over and sat beside her and kissed her cheek.

I heard him whisper to her, "You scared me. Don't ever do that again, you hear me." But it would have been too soft for the others to hear... my hearing was slightly better though. After he got up and went back to Lissa, Adrian walked in and Rose's face lit up. It made me curious as to what part he played in the fight. He came in with the only way he had of dealing with the effects of spirit... Vodka! He used to have Eddie, but no-one really mentioned him around Rose, she still found it really hard to talk about him and Mason. She held out her arms to him with a smile, so he sat down beside her.

"I can't thank you enough for what you did. If you hadn't changed my surroundings when you did.... I didn't know how much longer...."

"It's alright, that's what friends do for each other." She shook her head and we could all see she was trying to control her emotions, so we gave her the time she needed.

"Adrian, I almost gave up and then you gave me my stake.... If you hadn't...." She choked up again but then continued. "When I realised what you'd done, I made a promise that if by some miracle we got out there alive, I would give you a big kiss." I smiled at this...it was so Rose then she reached up and kissed him. It wasn't all that long ago that I would have been so jealous of that kiss; I would have wondered if it meant something, but not now... She had proven time and time again over the last few months just how deep her love for me was. "Thank you, and I'll love you forever." She smiled at him.

"You're very welcome little Dhampir, and I love you too. I'll _always_ be here for you, you know that right?" She nodded and then he wiped a tear away from her cheek and then went over to Vikki. Then Rose looked back to me with so much love, I felt like I was the only one in the room.

"I love you so much." She said, and then her face started to crumple..."She threatened you....and our baby." She whispered before crying her heart out.

"We'll get going." Said Janine. I nodded as I held Rose tight in my arms. She had my shirt in a death grip as her crying raked her body.

"Shh, it's over now. I've got you." I said. I looked at Lissa and could see she wanted to stay. "Stay?" I mouthed to her... she nodded and then her and Christian walked over to the bed. I moved Rose back into the middle of the bed and I laid down beside her while Lissa laid on her other side. Christian sat on the chair beside the bed. We both held her as she cried, we knew it was fear, I'd seen it in her eyes when Yelena showed me the memory. After about half an hour her sobs quietened down and she relaxed into sleep. I looked over to Lissa and she smiled at me as she closed her eyes to go with Rose. I knew she was fine now, so I got up and went out onto the balcony.

The moon was out in full now and the air was crisp, it wouldn't be long until we got snow. I closed my eyes and let the held back tears fall silently. I'd come so close to losing her, losing her in the comforts of our own bed... where she was supposed to be safe. It wasn't all that long ago that I wished that she could live in a world where she was safe, where nothing bad could reach her but I'd only thought of a physical world, I never thought in a million years that something like this was even possible. Before Yelena left with Robert, she sent me the vision of what had happened in Rose's mind...and it left me...angry.


	41. New Arrivals

**Okay... I finally got this done! And it's a biggy! I would normally split this size chapter, but it's a chapter that just can't be split... so I hope you all  
enjoy it... It brought back some memories, but I think it came out alright....  
Don't forget the little green button, let me know what you think of this one!  
It switches Point of View a few times, somthing that I don't normally do, but you'll understand why once you start to read it...**

**Sandy**

**Chapter Forty One**

New Arrivals

Winter was now if full force and everything here at Court was white. It was a beautiful place to be at any time of the year, but in winter it turned magical in a way. The lake outside the apartment building froze solid and I longingly watched the Royal Moroi gliding around and having fun. A few of their Guardians followed behind them so that they were close, but most just stood around the edge on full alert. It had been two weeks since Mrs Karp invaded my mind, two weeks of nightmares, two weeks of an hour here, an hour there of sleep; my body was starting to show signs of weariness that I didn't normally feel, but what made it worse was that I could see it affecting Dimitri too. He'd started his guardianship of Christian and our 'nightmare' interrupted nights were taking a toll. The last couple of nights I'd taken to sleeping on the lounge, hoping that I could find some comfort there instead of the anxiousness that swept over me when I'd lie in our bed. I'd sometimes catch Dimitri watching me, waiting for me to crack, but that wasn't going to happen.

At first the Doctor would come here each day to deliver my...liquid food, but lately he'd been making me come there for it, probably in order to get me to leave the apartment. I hated feeling this...inadequate. I'd never been in the situation where I couldn't fight my way out of something, even on the few occasions where Dimitri had actually come to rescue me, I'd still put up a fight myself. But this time.... I couldn't do anything, ironic really that I, badass Guardian Hathaway had to be rescued by a group of Moroi... and I think that's what bothered me the most. I know I'd fought in the end, but it was only with their help that it was even possible.

"Maya Krasaveetsa," I looked up to see my gorgeous husband walk up from behind me where I was sitting on the balcony and hand me a cup of hot chocolate. He was so angry at what Mrs Karp had done at first, but that had almost subsided, he smiled more now.

"What would I do without you? Oh, I know.... not survive." He smiled a humourless, knowing smile at me. "That brings some memories back." I said as I nodded over to the people skating on the lake. This time last year Lissa and Christian were skating around the pond that was near 'our' cabin at the academy, I really wanted to join them but Tasha wanted to go inside and rub her relationship with Dimitri in my face....

"Mmm. Next year you'll be able to be out there with them, showing our little one how you are just as graceful on ice as you are on land." He said.

"Sweet talk will get you everywhere my love." This bought out one of his wonderful laughs.

"I don't need sweet talk to have my way with you my dear." _No... He most certainly doesn't. _I thought to myself.

"You know me so well..." I said with a wink. We sat in one of our comfortable silences as we drank our hot chocolates while watching the people go round. Then it hit!

_"HOLY SHIT!" _ I yelled. I dropped the mug on the floor of the balcony and clutched at my stomach. Dimitri was at my side in an instant. A tear fell from my tightly squeezed eyes as I tried to get through the pain. As it eased I opened my eyes to a very worried husband.

"What's wrong? Is there something wrong with the baby?" he asked. I checked Lissa through the bond and found that Christian was saying almost the exact same words to her, but things were a little different on her end... her waters had just broken.

"Lissa!" I whispered to him. "The babies, they're coming."

"Can you walk?" he asked. I nodded and went to the door, Dimitri one step behind me.

_Rose! Help!_

_We're coming Liss, hang on. _We hadn't gone far when my legs gave way from under me as another pain shot through my body, luckily Dimitri had me around the waist otherwise I would have been on the floor of the hallway outside Lissa's apartment. "Shit, shit, shit..." I hissed with clenched teeth... I was going to have to put up some serious mental walls if Lissa was going to go through labour without _me_ going through it with her. _Open the bloody door Liss. _ I yelled silently. Within seconds the door opened to Christian's worried face.

"What in the hell do I do?" he yelled at us.

"Have you called the doctor?" asked Dimitri. Christian's face dropped as he realised that this thought hadn't even entered his mind. Just then I had a brilliant idea....Drugs!!!

"Dimitri... Run her to the clinic, they can give her pain killers... and that will help _both_ of us if you catch my drift. Just let her change first." I said looking over to Liss. She looked down and grimaced as she realised that she was still standing where her waters had broken. "We'll go now; you'll beat us there anyway."

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked. I nodded and dragged Christian out of the room as Liss went to get changed.

"Come on Sparky. You'll need to hold me up when the next one comes along." I said.

"What do you mean?"

"The bond!" I asked sarcastically... Pain didn't put me in a very good mood and at the moment... I was in a fair bit of pain and my mood was less than peachy. We only just made the lift when another pain hit... "HOLY _MOTHER_ OF GOD!!!" I winced as another pain shot through me. I grabbed hold of Christian's shirt and glared at him. "I'm not supposed to be going _through_ this yet! This is all _your_ fault." I spat at him...

"I'm sorry Rose." The look in his face and the panic in his voice almost had me laugh...almost. It took another couple of seconds for the pain to go and we got into the lift and made our way to the lobby.

_I'm sorry Rose. _ Said Lissa.

_I know Liss... Just hurry. _We got the keys to the car off the guard in the lobby and head off to the clinic. I got another pain on the way and I tried with everything I had in me to put up those blocks, but it just wasn't working and it was really starting to freak me out! We'd almost made our way to the clinic when we saw Dimitri run through the doors with Lissa in his arms.

"Shit he's fast." Said Christian. I had to giggle at that, Christian had a knack for stating the obvious in any situation... With a screech of the tyres, we came to a stop outside the clinic, I really hoped that I'd make it inside before another pain hit, but with my life is never that easy.

"OH for _SHIT_ sake..." I yelled as I held my stomach. Christian held me in his arms as I tried to breathe through the pain... "Will _SOMEONE_ give her some _fucking_ drugs!" I'd made a promise to Dimitri a long time ago that I wouldn't use that word as he said that someone as beautiful as me shouldn't have such an ugly word come out of my mouth, but at this point in time, I didn't give a shit! As I opened my eyes I saw Dimitri run to me with a weird look on his face. "WHAT?" I yelled at him. "Don't you _dare_ look at me like that....I'm in _pain_!"

"I know..." he said sympathetically.

**Lissa's Point of View**

I was walking to the kitchen to get something to eat as pain shot through my body, I bent over and felt fluid run down my legs. "_Oh crap!_" I yelled. I couldn't believe I'd peed myself.... Then I realised... this was it, my babies were on their way. This first pain was sharp, but at least it didn't last long... "_Christian!" _I yelled, he came running out of the bedroom and saw my face, then his eyes went down to the pool of water at my feet. I couldn't believe he just stood there with his eyes bugged and his mouth open. "Don't just stand there you idiot!" I yelled at him and shook my head, at least I know someone who would at least come when I called.

_Rose! Help!_

_We're coming Liss, hang on. _She said through the bond.

"What do I do?" Christian asked. I was about to yell some more at him but another contraction hit at the same time as we heard Rose on the other side of the door. _"Shit, shit, shit..." _ Oh no... She was getting my pain! Oh she was going to be pissed!

_Open the bloody door Liss. _ She yelled through the bond.

"Christian quick, open the door." He crossed the few steps to the door and opened it, but I don't think he realised that Rose was in pain too.

"What in the hell do I do?" he yelled at her.

"Have you called the doctor?" Dimitri asked with Rose in his arms. The pain had gone for now and both Rose and I could think again. Before Christian could get to a phone, Rose's face lit up as she got an idea.... I hated when she got that look in her eyes.

"Dimitri... Run her to the clinic, they can give her pain killers... and that will help _both_ of us if you catch my drift. Just let her change first." It took a second for me to realise what she meant. I looked down and cringed... "We'll go now; you'll beat us there anyway." She said. Rose had told me about Dimitri's speed, but I'd never actually seen it first hand and here I was, about to be carried by him while going at break neck speed to the clinic, this should be interesting.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Dimitri asked Rose. She nodded to him with a smile and dragged Christian outside. I walked as fast as I could to my closet and as I reached up for one of my maternity dresses, another pain hit.

"AH!" I yelled and in an instant Dimitri was standing beside me.

"Breathe through it Lissa." He said. I nodded as I clenched my teeth and held onto my stomach. I knew Rose would be going through this as well, but at the moment I couldn't think of anything other than the pain. As it receded, I stood up. "You alright now?" he asked and I nodded to him. "I'll let you get dressed." Then he walked out to the bedroom.

_I'm sorry Rose. _ I said through the bond.

_I know Liss... Just hurry. _I quickly got dressed so that we could get there before another one hit, but as it turned out...that was not to be. I couldn't believe how fast he was. He picked me up and told me to hang on tight and bury my face into his chest. He slowed down at some point when the pain hit, but he was still running and before I knew it we were at the clinic.

_"_Can I have some help here?" I heard him yell. I looked up to see nurses running to us, one of them asking for Doctor Walsh to be paged. As a wheelchair was brought over to me I heard a car screeching out the front and I gave a quick check and realised that Christian and Rose were here. A split second before I heard Rose's cries of pain, another contraction hit hard. "......SHIT sake..." I heard her cry, but my head was focused on my own pain. Some of her words filtered through and I was surprised to hear her cuss again. She'd promised Dimitri she wouldn't and so far she'd kept her promise, well up until now that is.

"I'll send Christian back to you Lissa, hang on." Said Dimitri as he bent down to my level. He ran over to Rose as we both panted through the last of the contraction...

"WHAT?" she yelled at him. I didn't know what his face looked like, but Rose was NOT a happy camper, that's for sure... "Don't you _dare_ look at me like that....I'm in _pain_!" She yelled again.

"I know." Said Dimitri as the Doctor came around the corner.

"Princess, well it looks like your babies have decided that they're ready to take on the world hey."

"Yeah... they're a little impatient." I said with a little humour.

"How far apart are the contractions?" he asked.

"Only about five minutes at the most." Said Christian.

'Well, you're lucky then. This should be a fast labour, they really _are_ impatient hey." He said with a smile. Suddenly I panicked, not knowing what I was about to have happen to me.... I knew it was going to hurt and if these labour pains were anything to go by then I was in for a _world_ of hurt... I had hoped that Rose could come in with Christian and I, but seeing her now, I didn't think she was going to be in any fit state to do that. As I was wheeled into a delivery room another pain went through my body. I know I yelled, but I heard Rose yell louder, amongst other things. The nurses that were with me all looked around in confusion and a little worry.

"Is that Rose?" the blonde nurse asked. I nodded as I gritted my teeth. "But she's not due yet! Macy go tell Dr Walsh that something's wrong with Rose's pregnancy." Macy was about to go when I grabbed hold of her wrist and shook my head. I couldn't talk right away, but once the pain started to wain, I let them know what was going on. "Well now... that's different. I don't want to give you too strong a pain relief just yet, so if you get up on the gurney here, I'll let you breathe in some gas." I had no idea what the gas was, but once it was on my face and I started breathing deeply as I was told.... WOW! Nitrous Oxide gas was my new best friend! My ears started to hum and my eyes rolled back in my head as I had a feeling of floating up to the ceiling.... I could feel another pain coming so I breathed in a little harder.... Oh! Wonder...ful...

**Rose's Point of View.**

"I know." Dimitri said sympathetically. I really didn't want to be feeling this right now, I had just over six weeks to go and this was something I really didn't need to know about just yet, I was nervous enough about the impending birth.

"Will it hurt the baby? I can't stop the pain...." He looked at me for a few seconds and then turned to call over a nurse. They'd taken Lissa into one of the birthing rooms with Christian attached to one of her hands.

"I know Dr Walsh is busy with Lissa, but can you ask him to come out here for just a minute please?" He asked her.

"Oh, he's not with her just yet, hang on I'll go get him." She said and then scooted away. I was about to say something else when my head went all giddy...

"Woow...." I breathed. "Huh! Whatever they're giving Lissa is wonderful..." then I started to giggle... "Weeeee! Oh my God.... Did I just say weeee?" Then just as I started to enjoy the ride, I could feel the pain start up again, but this time I was able to block it. Whatever they'd given Lissa was numbing her pain enough that I wasn't getting the full impact of it and I was able to build up the mental blocks. "Oh, that's better!" I said to my slightly confused but amused husband.

"Feeling better are we?"

"Just a little. At least now she's not in so much pain, I'm able to block it."

"Rose, Dimitri?" asked the Doctor behind us. "Is something the matter?"

"Oh," I said, "Um Doc, I'm just going through this with Lissa... Nothing big..." I said sarcastically. "Will it hurt my baby?" I asked.

"Oh well.... I forgot about your bond. Um, no... I don't think so. I know you're feeling the pain, but you're not actually contracting, at least I don't think so." He motioned over to the nurse and she came over to see what he wanted. "Can you please hook Mrs Belikova up to a CTG monitor please?"

"What's that?" I asked nervously.

"Nothing serious Rose, it's just a machine that lets us see if there are any actual contractions happening. I just want to make sure, that's all." I nodded and looked back to Dimitri. "I'll get going now and check on the Princess, I'll let you know what's going on." I nodded but I really didn't need to be told what was happening with her. I could see and feel everything for myself, I just couldn't be bothered going into all of that right now.

I'd been hooked up to the machine for about fifteen minutes and I watched closely to see if the machine did anything, which it didn't... so that made me feel better. Now that my barriers were up, I was no longer feeling her giddiness from the drugs or the pain from her labour; which I was eternally grateful for, I wasn't going to open up that bond until I knew those kids were out.... Just then the door to my room opened and Dr Walsh came in.

"I thought I'd just check you quickly." He walked over to the machine I was hooked up to and checked the little readout that had been printing since it had been attached to my stomach. "This is great Rose. It's just as I thought, you're baby is just fine. Lissa is going well and she asked if you wanted to come in or not." I bit my lip as I thought about it.... I had to go through this myself in a few weeks and after feeling the pains of her contractions I didn't think I really wanted to know what I was going to be going through...

"Ah...not really. I think I'd rather stay ignorant until it's my turn." Both the Doctor and Dimitri laughed at this and then he went back to deliver Lissa's twins. "Do you think I'm bad for not wanting to go in there?" I asked Dimitri.

"Not at all my love." He said slightly shaking his head. Just then a nurse came in and took the strap off my stomach and pushed the machine to one side of the room.

"Dr Walsh said to stay here and rest and we'll let you know when the babies are delivered." Dimitri came over and got up on the bed beside me after she left and I snuggled into his chest as we settled in for the wait.

**Lissa's Point of View.**

"AAHHH! Oh My _GOD_!" I screamed.... "Why is it hurting so much? Should it hurt this much?" I asked the nurses.

"Yeah, sorry Princess." I glared daggers at the stupid brunette nurse... _Sorry is she? Yeah sure she is.... Wipe that stupid smile off your face idiot or I'll do it for.... "_HOLY SHIT!" I yelled again.

"Lissa, listen to me please." Said the doctor. "I know it hurts..."

"_How_ would you know?" I yelled at him. "You're a _friggin_ man! You wouldn't know jack _shit_!.... Oh my God it hurts." I cried.

"Lissa... you're fully dilated now, so that means that you can push alright?" _Why would I want to do that_, I thought... _that will only make it hurt more! _ "Come on Lissa, another contraction is starting, so when it peaks I want you to push alright?" I could feel hands on my stomach pushing and prodding... My legs were up in a bent position and my hand gripped my knees... well as best I could with my huge stomach in the way. Christian was behind me with his hands on my shoulders.

"I'm here Liss.... Push baby..."

"Oh shut the hell up Christian, you did.... OH FOR _SHIT_ SAKE!...." I squeezed my eyes shut as the urge to push flooded my brain. There was nothing else in this room other than the pain that gripped my body. _What were they doing down there? _ I thought..... _It hurts so much.... _

"Princess?" The stupid brunette nurse piped up... "Would you like me to put a mirror down where you can see your baby being born?" At that instant all I wanted to do was put my hands around her scrawny neck and throttle her...

"Who gives a shit about a friggin _MIRROR_?" I yelled.... "_Ahh_!" Another contraction had me in its grip. I just wanted it to stop...

"Push Lissa, Push..." said the doctor. I took a deep breath and squeezed my eyes shut again as I pushed with everything I had in me. I could hear Christian saying something behind me, but I couldn't really make it out. I let out a sigh as the contraction let go, but before I had a chance to relax too much another one started up. "One more push Princess..." I heard. Again I pushed but there was so much pressure... I could feel burning...

"Oh God! I don't want to do this anymore.... it hurts too much... make it stop!"I knew that no amount of pleading was going to magically make it all go away, but in that instant I just didn't know how much longer I could keep going... and I hadn't even got the first one out yet! "One more push Princess..." _Who is that prick? One more friggin push my ASS!_

"Say that again and I'm going to _hit_ someone!" I growled between my teeth... I heard Christian laugh nervously behind me and somehow my elbow, of its own accord, just rammed into his gut.

"Stop laughing mongrel. You did this and you're going to pay.... _BIG_ time!" I yelled again as yet another contraction took over... _this_ time however... they didn't say 'one more push'....

"You're nearly there Princess, the head is out. Come on, you can do this." Said the doctor.

"No... I can't..." I whispered.

"Liss..." Christian whispered in my ear... "I can see the baby's head.... oh my God!" I could hear his wonder, but at the moment, I didn't give a shit! The urge to push was too strong, my body knew what had to be done and I was just along for the ride, so to speak... And then I heard the most wonderful sound....my baby cried! "OH Liss..." he sobbed... "It's a girl...." he whispered. I looked up exhausted to see my little girl being taken away to be cleaned. I so desperately wanted to hold her, but the doctor's voice pulled my attention away from her.

"Okay Liss, she's fine but you have another one to go. This one will be easier alright." I nodded and one of the nurses put her hand on my stomach again.

"Here comes another contraction princess... push!" With a new sense of determination I pushed and pushed... I wanted to hold my babies; I wanted to kiss their beautiful faces, to smell their soft skin. And it was true.... it only took three more pushes and my next child came into the world.

"Congratulations." Said the doctor. "It's another girl." I could no longer stop the tears as the doctor put my second daughter on my chest. She was crying so softly and was and still covered in blood and fluid but I couldn't help but think she was the most beautiful thing I'd ever laid eyes on.

"Hello baby... She's so beautiful." I whispered.

"Just like her mother." Said Christian, I turned around and saw he too had tears flowing down his cheeks. "Thank you. You don't know how happy you have made my life." Then as we held our daughter we kissed through or tears of happiness.

"Princess?" We looked up to see the nurse holding our first born daughter, who was now cleaned and wrapped in a pink shawl. "Your other daughter would like to meet you. How about I clean this little one up for you and bring her back shortly, okay?" I nodded as I couldn't talk at the moment and took my first born into my arms.

"Hello darling." I whispered to her. "I've been dying to meet you." Just then our little angel's eyes fluttered open and we saw her bright ice blue eyes looking back at us, her father's eyes, as we stared at her the nurse bought our second daughter back to us. She too had Christian's brilliant blue eyes and but both had my blonde hair.

"They are the most beautiful babies I've ever seen, you did so well my love. I knew you were strong and now I have three angels to share my life with." Said Christian. After the doctor had cleaned me up and my sheets had been changed, I asked the nurse if she'd go and get Rose, I wanted to desperately for her to meet my little girls.


	42. Acceptance

**I know, I know... I've been slack! But here it is...better late than never I say... hehehe This chapter is a little on the fluffy side,  
but things needed to be said... I hope you all enjoy it and the cresendo of the story will soon be upon us!  
Thanks everyone  
Sandy**

* * *

**Chapter Forty Two**

Acceptance

During the delivery, I got Dimitri to ring all of our family to tell them that Lissa was having the babies, and as soon as he told Adrian and Vikki, they insisted they come to the clinic. The others said they would wait until tomorrow to visit as they didn't want to over stress Lissa too much after having the babies. Adrian and Vikki had been here for the last hour or two when the door opened up and a brunette nurse poked her head into the room. "Rose, the Princess would like to know if you'd like to come and meet the babies." A huge smile spread across my face as I looked up to Dimitri.

"I most certainly would, thank you nurse." She nodded quickly and ducked back outside. I slowly opened up the bond and a wave of pure unadulterated joy flooded into my body, Lissa had never been this happy and tears instantly sprang into my eyes.

"What's wrong Roza?" Dimitri said worried.

"Nothing. I've never felt Liss this happy before, ever since the bond started. Oh God Dimitri...it's so beautiful. I can't describe it." He held my chin and smiled.

"It won't be long and you'll be feeling this through your own emotions." I nodded as he bent forward to kiss me gently. I could see that Adrian was busting to see the babies too so I thought I'd ask Liss.

_Congratulations mummy_.

_Thank you Rose_....

_Liss, Adrian and Vikki are here too and I think he'd like to meet your babies too, can they come in too_?

_Of course_. She said.

_Okay, we're on our way_....

"Come on; let's meet the new additions shall we?" Said Dimitri.

"Adrian, she said that you guys can come in too if you'd like." His face lit up in anticipation. So together, we all walked into the room to see Liss and Christian sitting side by side on the bed, each holding a baby, babies both wrapped in pink shawls.

"Liss.... Two girls." I said. _I'm so happy for you, I feel like I'm going to explode! _Her smile could have lit up the whole state, she just radiated happiness. I walked over and wrapped my arms around her neck and kissed her cheek and then looked down into the most beautiful face. "Oh Liss, she's stunning."

"I know, I thought I was being a little biased." She said. I looked over to see an identical face staring at me from Adrian's arms.

"Are they identical?" I asked, to which she nodded and smiled. I turned to look at Dimitri beside me and then saw Adrian's face.

"Woow!" he whispered in amazement. "Cousin, you're literally glowing. I've never seen your aura so bright." Then he looked down to the babies, his eyes going from one to the other and he smiled.

"What? What are you seeing?" I asked him.

"Just their auras, they're so beautiful...the palest shades of blues and purples intermixed with the most brilliant pure white I've ever seen. Beautiful." He continued to smile as he gazed at them, almost mesmerised by them.

"Have you picked any names for them yet?" I asked.

"Yeah, we have. We've had these names picked for a while actually. This little one is the eldest and her name is Andrea Dimitra Ozera and our youngest is Rozalina Adriana Ozera." We all stood there in shock, their names.... they were all derived from ours, except Andrea's of course, she was named after Lissa's brother Andre who died the same day as I did. "Don't you like their names?" she asked worried.

"Oh Liss, Christian...no, they're beautiful names." I said. "I just....never thought..."

"Thank you. Both of you, I can't explain how much what you've done means to me." Said Dimitri. Lissa and Christian looked to each other and huge smiles spread across their faces. Then as I looked behind me, for the first time I saw a single tear fall down Adrians face.

"What's wrong Adrian?" asked Christian.

"I've never felt so accepted by anyone like this before. I've had many people in my life, people who said they were my friends but weren't, not really. And as much as I've always considered you all as my friends..." he looked down shaking his head slowly, "this....it just hit me... that you guys have never been _just_ friends, you're family, _my_ family. Thank you Cousins." We all picked up on Adrian's inclusion of Christian when he said 'cousins', he'd never done this before. There was a lot of love in this room at the moment and for the first time I really and truly felt that _I _belonged to a family. Liss had always been like a sister, but in the last few months....well, the bond that we all shared now felt unbreakable. Vikki came up and put her arm around Adrian and pulled him up to meet the girls. We didn't end up staying too long as we could all see how tired Lissa was. We told her that we'd be back in the morning after she got some rest. Christian said that he'd ring us after she woke up so we all said our goodbyes and walked back towards our apartments.

"They're so beautiful." Vikki whispered as we walked.

"Yeah they are. But then again I didn't really expect them not to be really." I said with a smile. "I just never expected them to name one of them after me.... Poor girl."

"Why would you say that my love? Any child would be blessed to be named after you." He bent over and kissed me as we made our way into the park. I looked over to Adrian and saw that he was still deep in thought.

"I thought you realised how much you mean to all of us Adrian?" He looked up and me and smiled.

"I guess there was always a part of me that thought you all just put up with me because of me being a spirit user and the fact that I just wouldn't leave, someone who you couldn't just kick to the curb." I let go of Dimitri's hand and walked over to stand in front of Adrian.

"In the beginning you were the guy that just wouldn't leave, but time and time again Adrian you proved your strength of character, your love and loyalty to us all. You stopped being 'that guy who wouldn't leave' a long time ago. I'm sorry if we never let you feel that until now."

"You did, you all did. I've just never had that before, but I just didn't see the signs until now." He said. "We'll let you go get some sleep; it's been a big night for you."

"Yeah it has." I looked into his eyes and then over to Vikki, then I grabbed him into a hug. "Have you told Vikki how much you love her yet?" I whispered in his ear. I could feel his soft laugh against my chest.

"How would you know what I feel?" he whispered back.

"You're not the only one who can see aura's Adrian. Have a good night you two." I said. He glanced over to Vikki and then back to me and winked at me. I was so happy that Adrian had finally found someone whom he loved, and she loved him back warts and all. But most of all that he'd found someone who didn't stand for any of his crap, she pulled him into line and didn't let him behave like the royal that he is. She was strong and fiercely loyal and would die for him, literally. I kissed them both goodnight and we went to walk back to the apartment.

"What was that all about my love?" Asked Dimitri. He'd accepted Adrian's and Vikki's relationship completely now especially since my tangle with Sonya Karp. With everything that had happened to him and to me, he said that life was too short to hold onto grudges, that when someone finds that special someone...they should grab it with both hands and never let go.

"Nothing really..." he didn't believe me, but didn't say anything else either. Next thing I knew I was scooped up into his arms. "I can walk you know." I said smiling.

"I am aware of that Roza, but that doesn't mean that I have to let you. Hold on tight my love..." and with that he took off at his full speed and we were at our door in less than two minutes. It was exhilarating; my blood pumped through me like I'd run the dash with my own two legs...

"Wow!" I breathed... "Can you please tell me why we haven't done _that_ before?" I said. He laughed as he opened the door and walked us into the apartment. "That was seriously....unreal! I wanna do that again."

"I gathered that Roza."

"Dimitri." I said.

"Mmm?"

"What do you think we'll have? A boy or a girl?" I asked. But he all I got was this funny shoulder shrug and sort of a shake of the head. "What was that?" I asked him.

"What was what?"

"That... thing you just did."

"I didn't do a 'thing' Rose."

"Yes you did. And you didn't answer my question." I watched him to see what his reaction would be this time, but he just stared at me. "Why won't you answer my question Dimitri?"

"It doesn't matter if our child is a boy or a girl." He said resting his hand on my stomach.

"I know it doesn't matter, I only asked what you thought we might have." I was curious now as to why he wouldn't say. "What do you think?" Then he did it again... I narrowed my eyes and pursed my lips at him and then a thought came to me... "Do you already know?"

"How could I?"

I took a deep breath and stared at him with my mouth open as I realised that he did... somehow he already knew... "Mmm, how indeed." I said... then it hit me and I smiled at him.

"What's that smile for my love?"

"Yeva!" Was all I said. His smile grew and he looked down to our hands and that was all the verification I needed. "What did she say?" I asked him. But he just looked at me with a smile; he wasn't going to tell me a thing! The last time he spoke to his grandmother had been at the airport when we said goodbye to them....when she whispered something to him...

"Don't think about Roza, I won't tell you anything." I tried to lift my eyebrow in question, but where one eyebrow goes...the other follows!

"Oh really?" I asked... _Oh, you'll tell me my love... _I thought as I sat there smiling evilly at him. I stood up from the sofa and stood in front of him. "Well then, I'm off to bed." I walked around the rear of the sofa and quickly took off my shirt and threw it at him.... he turned to look at me and his eyes hungrily took in my body. "Night." I said as I shut the door to our bedroom. I stood in our bedroom watching him turn the door handle, but I'd locked it.

"Roza.... That's not nice." He said from the other side of the door.

"What did she say?" I said in reply.

I heard him growl from the other side of the door and I leant my forehead against it as I waited to see if he'd relent.

"I promised I wouldn't tell." He whispered against my neck..... I nearly jumped through the roof! I spun around and found myself face to face with him... I looked behind him and realised that he'd gone out of the sliding doors in the lounge room and somehow come in through the bedroom doors behind me... I just stood there in amazement...

"Wha.... How did you....? How did you do that?" I stuttered out... He quickly grabbed me around the waist and pulled me into him and with the same smile he had on his face outside, he looked down and my half naked body.

"Are you saying that if I don't tell you what Babushka said, that you're going to tease me?"

"The thought crossed my mind." I said through my giggles.

"Would you really have me break a promise to my grandmother?"

"No...." I said in defeat. "Just answer me this..." he lifted his one eyebrow at me and then I continued. "Did she tell you what we'd have at the plane?"

"Yes, she did." I huffed as I really wanted to know what she'd said, but I didn't want him to break his promise either... and he was trying really hard not to laugh at me.

"You know.... I could just ask the doctor what sex the baby is when I have my next scan, and then you wouldn't be breaking any promises..."

"You could. But the sex of our child wasn't the only thing she told me, so I still couldn't tell you what she said." Now I was dying to know.... damn it! "Now, I'm gathering that you no longer wish to wear those particular clothes seeing as you already got rid of your shirt." He said with a very sexy voice.

"Well, I did say that I was going to bed and I can't very well sleep in this now can I? There are special clothes that one wears to bed called... pyjamas..." I felt his fingers trace slowly up my spine setting my skin alight.... then I felt the pop of my bra strap. He reached up and slowly slid the straps off my shoulders, never taking his eyes away from mine.

"Nah... I've heard those 'pyjama' things just get in the way of the really important activities that one can do in bed." I giggled as he lifted me into his arms. He made his way to the bedroom and laid me on the bed and as he covered my body in kisses, he skilfully relieved my body of the lower half of my clothing without me noticing...

"I've heard that clothes in general get in the way too. Let me help clear the way." I said with my best man eater of a smile...


	43. A Storm's A Brewin'

**Sorry I'm so late getting this one up everyone, but the end in near.... :-( This is a bit of a filler as things need to be put into place...  
I just wanted to say thank you all so very, very much for all of your reviews on this story... So far, it's up to 995.... So thank you!  
You guys are the best! As you can see from the title of this chapter, something big is on the horizon! hehehe  
I hope you all enjoy this chapter and don't forget the little green button at the end of the story... **

**Sandy**

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**Chapter Forty Three**

A Storm's A Brewin'

The next morning we awoke to the loud banging on our door. I looked over to Dimitri and noticed he still had his eyes closed, I could tell by his breathing he wasn't asleep though. "Fine, I'll get it...you just stay there in the comfortable bed while I, the big, fat pregnant one gets the door..." A small smile pulled at his mouth but he still didn't open his eyes, so I wacked his arm for good measure. I grabbed my black silk robe off the end of the bed and put it on as I walked to the door.

I opened the door to see Vikki staring at me... "Morning." I said to her... She looked like she was about to cry... "What's wrong?" I asked her as I reached for her.

"He said it." I looked at her confused... "He said he loved me." She whispered. I smiled as I pulled her into the room.

"Then why are you here and not in there with him?" I asked as we walked over to the sofas.

"He told me last night, and then I couldn't sleep all night after that. What will people say? Oh my God... his Aunt... she won't..." she rambled....

"Vikki, stop. Adrian wouldn't have told you that he loved you if he didn't mean it and knowing Adrian as well as I do, he won't let _anyone_ stand in his way of getting what he wants, including his aunt." She smiled...sort of and did relax a little.

"I just... I just don't want to make things hard for him. Our relationship..."

"Will be more accepted than two Dhampir's getting together, but that didn't stop your brother and I now did it? Stop worrying or else I'll dob on you." I said with a smile. Then she did that eyebrow thing that seems to be easy for everyone other than me! "Yeah, I will you know.... I'll dob on you to your boyfriend." She started giggling just as my hunky Russian God walked in from the bedroom bare chested.

"Dobroye utro Sistra." He greeted Vikki with a kiss and she blushed a little. "What brings you here so early this morning?" She looked at me with a questioning look, like 'should I tell him?', so I nodded in reply.

"Dobroye utro Dimka. Well, I had some news and I wanted to share it with someone." Then he did the 'eyebrow thing', which flared my annoyance about the fact that I still hadn't been able to do it. "Adrian told me that he loved me last night." She made a face that I nearly burst out laughing at... like she was waiting for world war 3 to erupt in her face.

"About time." He said and both Vikki and I stared at him with our mouths open waiting for the other shoe to drop. He looked between us with a smile. "What?" he asked. _What indeed.... _Then Vikki flew into his arms and planted kisses all over his face while thanking him over and over. I suppose Dimitri was the father figure that she needed approval from, their father hadn't come back after Dimitri taught him a lesson in manners and Vikki had only been young at the time, so he was her male role model. Not a bad role model to have if I do say so myself and it made me wonder how I would have turned out if I'd had someone like him in my life from a young girl.

I closed my eyes and my hands instinctively went to my stomach as I thought about how lucky our child would be having Dimitri as their father, I smiled as I pictured him holding our son or daughter in his big strong hands, him teaching our child what it is to be loved, how to fight. I took a deep breath and opened my eyes to see Dimitri squat down in front of me, his eyes only inches from mine with a smile on his own face. I looked behind him and noticed that Vikki was no longer in the room.

"Where did Vikki go?" I asked.

"She said she'll come back later. And first things first....you're not fat by any stretch of the imagination, even considering you're pregnant; you are carrying our little miracle safe and sound. And second, what were you thinking about just before? You looked a million miles away." he asked as he put a hand over mine that still rested on my stomach.

"You – and our child. How lucky he or she is to have you as their father." He smiled and took my face in his hands.

"Not half as lucky as to have you as 'his' or 'her' mother." He said, and I noticed how he didn't let slip up and just say his mother or her mother... then he gave me a short kiss. "Don't pout; I'm gathering that you're hungry?"

"Maybe a little." He laughed as he pulled me up into a wonderful hug. "You really don't know how lucky our baby is." I said to him. He pulled back to look at me confused. "I know that I haven't met as many male Dhampir or guardians as you seem to know, but from the ones I _have_ met, none of them measure up to you; your morals, you strength of character, your unfailing loyalty. Take it from someone who knows what it feels like to grow up without someone like that in her life; _this_ child is the luckiest child on this earth to have you as their father." He just looked at me and I could see just how much he was trying to control himself at the moment.

"Thank you." He said in an almost whisper. "You see me like no-one else ever has, your belief in me gives me more strength than you could ever imagine. I don't know what I did to ever deserve to have you love me like you do." The he tightened his grip around me and lifted me up so that my feet dangled a foot from the floor and kissed me softly.

"Oh! Did you feel that?" I asked him. A huge, proud smile spread across his face as he put me back onto the floor as he nodded his head.

"Again, thank you." He said. And I knew that this thank you was for a lot of different things, bringing him back, risking everything...my life...my guardian status, marrying him and most of all for this child, a child that neither of us thought was possible for us to have. "Now, go get dress so I take you out for breakfast." He gave my butt a quick slap as I walked away.

* * *

The next few days consisted of visiting Liss and the babies in the hospital and watching Vikki and Adrian get smoochier and smoochier... They only had a few more weeks together before Vikki had to go back to St Vladimir's to finish her last year and Adrian had told everyone that he planned on going back with her. Robert thought Yelena would benefit from having a year in a US school as well and that way they could practice spirit together... well she could teach Adrian a thing or two considering she was a lot more powerful than he was. They'd also keep an eye on one of the students there that the guardians thought may be another spirit user, apparently he wasn't gaining strength in any particular element and was a little 'off' at times, so they were pleased to know that they would have Adrian and Yelena come to stay when school started back up. Guardian Mitchell was going to be staying with us as he'd been named as Lissa's other guardian and then once I was fit enough after the baby was born, we would guard her together. Mom was thinking about taking a position up with St Vlad's as a combat instructor as she said that seeing as I took their best instructor away, they needed someone there with a bit of talent. I really was a lot like her...

A few days after Liss and the babies came home from hospital, I was sitting in their apartment when my mother came over and sat beside me. "Your father and I were wondering about getting everyone over to his place for a little get together soon." I looked at her as I picked up the almost nervousness in her voice.

"Sounds good, is the get together for anything in particular?" I asked. She looked everywhere but at me and then I _knew_ something was going on... "Okay, spill mother." She finally looked up at me and tried to do the 'I don't know what you're talking about' look, but I could see right through it. "Don't give me that look... what are you hiding?"

"Nothing. Will you come or not?" she asked, her guardian mask now firmly in place.

"Of course I will. I don't know if Liss and the kids are up to a big drive though, but I'll ask her."

Mom nodded and then replied. "Your father has to go away for a few days from tomorrow but we thought once he gets back, we could do it then, I just thought that I would ask now so that people wouldn't make plans." _Okay...this was definitely getting weird...._

"Okay...Who else is coming?"

"Ah, well you could ask all of your friends if you'd like, just let me know numbers." I nodded to her but I knew she was hiding something, I _also_ knew that I got my stubbornness from her and she wouldn't tell me anything else about it so I would have to wait to find out.

"Ah-huh." I smiled at her. This was getting more and more mysterious by the second, she knew I didn't believe her flimsy 'get together' excuse, so she stood up, said goodbye and walked out to meet my father for dinner.

_Rose, can you come in here for a minute please?_

_Yup, coming... _I went into her room to find her trying to feed two babies at once and having a little difficulty with it. "Here, let me take my girl." I said. She handed me Rozalina and I smiled at her beautiful face as she quietly drank her bottle. "Hello beautiful angel." I said to her.

"You're going to make an excellent mother Rose, you know that don't you." She said smiling at me. "What was your mother talking about out there?"

"Oh, she wants everyone to come over to her place for a 'get together' next weekend. I know that she's hiding something about it, but she won't say anything. You're invited of course but I didn't know if you wanted to travel all that way so I said that I'd ask you."

"Mmm, sounds good actually. How are your feedings going?" That was a strange twist in the conversation, and I got a little apprehensive.

"Fine... why would you ask about that?"

"Oh, I've just been getting some feelings from you...the hunger is back again isn't it, like it was before you started getting blood?" I had felt it myself too, but hadn't said anything to anyone yet. "Talk to me Rose." She pleaded. I looked down to my hands and knew that it was useless trying to deny anything to her.

"The blood _was_ working at first, but the further I get into the pregnancy...." I sat and shook my head in frustration. "I even had a dream the other night of..." I looked up at her almost embarrassed to say it...

"I know, you pulled me in." I stared at her waiting to see her reaction. "You need to tell Dimitri, he needs to know that the thirst is back, as does the doctor. You remember what Yeva told you don't you?" She asked. Yeva's words flashed into my mind again.... "_Do not lose your concentration Rose. I know about your thirst, tell him and he will help you, because it will only get worse and you may do something you will regret if he does not know." _

"What did you see?" I asked her.

"Everything." She said calmly. I nodded and took a deep breath.

"It scares me Liss. If I tried to bite someone, especially if I was in 'that' frame of mind, it would kill them, and I would drink their blood. If I did that...if I killed while drinking their blood, would I turn?" The last part I barely whispered, but she heard it.

"I don't know, as far as I know a Dhampir has never been turned from drinking someone dry before, they just don't have the chops for it." My mouth dropped open at her lame attempt at humour.

"I can't believe you just said that!"

"Well you don't... Well, _you_ might..." she said with a shrug. I looked down to my namesake and realised that she'd finished her bottle and was sleeping soundly with the teat still in her mouth.

"You're lucky I'm holding Rozalina right now woman." She thought I was joking, but I was starting to get a little annoyed by her attitude to something that was really worrying me. I hadn't had these...emotions for a while now, Lissa had been so calm in the last half of her pregnancy and then elated when the twins arrived; the darkness almost felt like a distant memory. I walked over to one of the cradles in the room and put Rozalina in it to sleep. Just then Christian and Dimitri came in; Christian had been given a seat on the new 'Moroi Defence Board' and he'd spent the day trying to get the Code of Conduct written out. There were a lot of differing opinions on just how far some of the Moroi wanted to take this idea of self defence. Some didn't want any of the Royals putting themselves out there; others wanted things to stay as they are now and were doing everything they could think of to thwart proceedings. Others like Christian, Liss and Tasha wanted any Moroi who wanted to learn, to have the opportunity to do so without persecution. By Dimitri's face things didn't go very well today.

_Are you going to tell him? _Asked Liss.

_I don't know, by the looks of his face, tonight may not be the best time to bring this subject up._

_Rose, it's going to be like this most days and you can't put this off indefinitely. He'd want to know. _I knew she was right.

_Yeah, I know._ _Thanks Liss, I'll see you in the morning. Love ya._

"Love you too Rose. Night." She said with a smile. Christian just shook his head and narrowed his eyes as I went to kiss him goodbye...

"Don't worry Sparky, she didn't tell me anything I don't already know." I heard Dimitri laugh softly beside me and Liss gave me one of her toothless glares, so I blew her a kiss and turned and wrapped my arms around my Russian God's body. "Hello lover."

"Hello beautiful, how has your day been?"

_Now's your opportunity Rose... _I heard in my head...

"Mmm, could have been better. Come on, I'll tell ya all about it." I gave him a kiss and pulled him through the joining door to our apartment.


	44. Thirst And Dark Desires

**I just looked and realised how long it's been since updating for you all.... Sorry about the wait, but here 'tis...  
Poor Rose... Lucky she has strong shoulders to carry her burdens! But at least she has Dimitri there to help her.  
I hope you all enjoy this chapter and thank you all for making this the Most Reviewed Vampire Academy Story. It's now got 1020 Reviews! :-D WOO HOO!!  
**

**Thank you all so very much!**

**Sandy**

* * *

**Chapter Forty Four**

Thirst And Dark Desires

I had full intentions of telling Dimitri all about the thirst returning, I just had to have a shower first, I needed to think about what to say. I didn't want to worry him; he still had a lot going on in his own mind. Ever since he accepted Vikki's relationship with Adrian, there was a big change in his attitude towards everything. He seemed more content with his new abilities, the fact that he was more Moroi in DNA didn't seem to be an issue now and he _was_ a lot calmer. But that still didn't mean I wanted to push him too hard, his temper seemed to be well in check, but remembering how easy it was for him to 'heat up', just made me weary about certain subjects. "I need a shower, I won't be long." I said with a kiss.

"Ah-huh." He went to the kitchen as I went into the bathroom. I stepped under the water and let it flow completely over my head and all the way down to my toes, I loved how the water covering my ears allowed me to block out the rest of the world, even if it was just for a minute or two. When I opened my eyes, I wasn't all that surprised to see the most gorgeous man standing in front of me. "I needed a shower too, so I thought I'd do my bit with saving on water and shower with a friend." His grin was infectious and so was his amazing body, I just couldn't get enough of it. I knew then that no thoughts were going to be collected any time soon... "I thought you said that you wouldn't be long in the shower my love?" The grin on his face as he said this earned him a soft hit on the arm.

"Well then, you shouldn't have joined me." His laugh was as heart stopping as his body, face and soul. He was perfect and he was all mine.

After we were finished with our shower and were suitably dressed, we went back out to the living room sofa. He knew I had something to tell him, but as normal, he let me get to it in my own time without any pushing on his part. He sat beside me and pulled me into him, wrapping me in his safe, strong arms. I loved being in his embrace. "I need to tell you something." I said as the thirst burned in my throat.

"Mmm." His patience made me smile.

"It's back, the thirst... It's as strong as it was before." _If not stronger... _I thought to myself. He was silent for a minute so I pulled out of his embrace to look up at him but I was surprised by the small smile on his lips. "What on earth could you find funny out of my last statement?"

"Oh, just the fact that _I'm_ the one that's supposed to be Moroi and you're the one that has the thirst." I couldn't help but giggle at his logic. It was true, somehow in this screwed up world, we balanced each other out... Me; fiery, impetuous, impulsive and full of thirst.... Dimitri; cool, calm and collected and stoic. As my emotions swirled in my heart, my eyes stared into his but soon found their way to his neck... his scent was strong and clean after the shower and even though our shower had been...productive, as this thirst increased, so did my yearning for him. He saw my eyes cloud in desire and he smiled. "Again?"

"What can I say....you're hot!" He laughed loudly and was doing dangerous things to me... I jumped up from my position beside him and landed on his lap; straddling him. "I need you." I growled.

_Rose? What's going on? Settle down, you're pulling me in. _

_Go away Liss.... _I leant forward kissing him deeply, I could feel him smile under my lips but it wasn't long before he realised that this was something a little more than pent up passion.

_Rose! Stop.... _Man she was annoying!

"Roza..." He pulled away from me and looked into my eyes... "What's wrong?" I didn't want to talk, I wanted him... I pulled him back to me and kissed along his jaw and down his neck, something instinctual clicked in me and my tongue licked his neck. Strong hand gripped my shoulders hard and pushed me away... **"ROSE!"** I distantly heard my name said by two voices at once, but I was staring at his neck and only his neck... I licked my lips as I thought of his blood just under the surface... Next thing....everything was black.

* * *

**Lissa's Point of View.**

"Don't worry Sparky, she didn't tell me anything I don't already know." She said. I can't believe how she goads him. She knows how much he hates it when we talk silently to each other. I just glared at her as Dimitri laughed beside her. Then she blew me a kiss before going over and wrapping her arms around Dimitri. "Hello lover." She said.

"Hello beautiful, how has your day been?" he asked her.

_Now's your opportunity Rose... _I said. She needed to tell him about the thirst before something bad happened. When we were talking before, I had a feeling that she was going to talk about her thirst so I made sure that my barriers were up so that she couldn't read my feelings. She'd had a dream, or should I say nightmare the other night, she was in the commons back at St Vlad's and we were all sitting around at our table and Jesse Zeklos came up to our table and started teasing her like he always did, but this time...instead of just punching him out, Rose leapt up from her seat and bit into his neck. Everyone tried to get her off him, but she was too strong and by the time we finally got her off...he was drained and she had red rings in her eyes. I woke from the dream screaming as a cold shiver ran down my spine. Her mentioning it again brought back those feelings.

"_What did you see?" She asked. _

"_Everything." I said quietly. She nodded and took a deep breath. _

"_It scares me Liss. If I tried to bite someone, especially if I was in 'that' frame of mind, it would kill them, and I would drink their blood. If I did that...if I killed while drinking their blood, would I turn?" She whispered the last part, but I heard her. _

I'd felt over the last couple of weeks since her tangle with Mrs Karp, that her thirst was increasing, but I didn't say anything because I knew she would want to tackle this on her own. I had to let her know that I knew about it, no point in lying to someone you share a psychic bond with. I knew she was scared, but I didn't want to feed that fear so I tried to make a joke of it, I don't think she thought it was funny though because even though my barriers were up, hers weren't and I could feel her irritation come through the bond. That was another thing that I'd felt a lot of lately... irritation. It's getting bad again. When Christian and Dimitri came in her face lit up and a lot of her previous annoyance vanished. He was as much her rock as she was mine, so I guess that makes us the three musketeers...all for one and one for all!

By the time they went off to their apartment, she was in a much better frame of mind, but I could tell the thirst was worse than even half an hour ago.

"What's wrong darl?" asked Christian. He knew me so well, either that or I had a very readable face.

"It's Rose."

"Anything I can help with?"

"I can't really talk about it, sorry. I'm sure that you'll know soon enough, but for now..."

"Don't worry about it sweetheart, if Rose wants me to know about it, she'll tell me herself." I smiled as he wrapped his arms around me and kissed my lips. Even after being at work all day, he still smelt sweet... It was about twenty minutes later that I felt a rush of happiness from Rose. I smiled as I thought that their talk had obviously gone well... after all, from the feelings that I felt ten minutes ago I didn't think they were doing too much talking. "What are you smiling about my love?" Asked Christian.

"I think things are going well next door."

"Oh darl... I didn't need to know that..."

"Not like that! Gees Christian, get your mind out of the gutter!" _Little did he know...._ Then her emotions changed...dramatically. The happiness was gone; all that was left was desire... "Not again..." I whispered to myself. The desire picked up to the point where it was starting to pull me into her head... "Talk to me Christian."

"What? Why?"

"_Just talk to me damn it!"_ I yelled... His eyes flew open and then he started jabbering on about what had happened in the meetings today, I tried to concentrate on his mouth, to listen to each word as they came out. But it wasn't working, so I thought I'd alert Rose so she could settle down. _Rose? What's going on? Settle down, you're pulling me in._

_Go away Liss.... _she spat back. That was weird; she's never dismissed me like that before. Again I tried to concentrate on Christian but the pull was getting stronger, then I was in her head... I couldn't see anything but I knew I was kissing Dimitri... _really _kissing Dimitri. I could feel the out of control desire that swirled in her body and mind and I had to try to help. _Rose! Stop... _I yelled in her head.

"Roza..." Rose opened her eyes as he ended the kiss and I could see Dimitri's confused but worried eyes looking back to me, but Rose's emotions kept me anchored to her. "What's wrong?" he asked, she didn't answer...her thoughts were elsewhere, we leant forward kissing him again, then my/her lips travelled down but it was like cold water being splashed on me when I felt her tongue taste his throat. I knew that it wasn't a passionate lick; _this_ was a feeding lick... I felt Dimitri grip us by the shoulder and push us away. "ROSE!" Dimitri and I yelled in unison to try and shock her out of her current thought process. Somehow I was able to snap back into my own head and I found myself staring back into Christian's eyes.

"Liss? What in the hell is going on?" I didn't have time to answer him; I just spun around and flew through the door that separated our apartments. I found Rose still sitting on Dimitri's lap, still in the grip of whatever had her and him trying to restrain her. I immediately went over to her without speaking to Dimitri and put my hand on her head...

"Sleep..." I whispered. She fell to the side and Dimitri caught her instantly. He looked up at me with a million questions flowing from his eyes.

"What in the hell just happened to her?" he asked me. He stood up taking her in his arms and then carried her to the bedroom.

"What's going on?" asked Christian from behind me. I motioned him to follow me as I explained to Dimitri what I'd felt and seen through the bond.

"Keep up." I said to Christian and then turned back to Dimitri. "Okay... I'm gathering that she told you about the thirst?" He nodded to me as he laid Rose on the bed. "Well, I've noticed since the incident with Mrs Karp that it's steadily been getting worse; not much in the beginning, but in the last week... well, it's pretty bad, especially in the last hour." I looked at Rose lying on the bed and even though she was unconscious at the moment, the thirst is still there. I looked back to Dimitri and continued. "She had a dream a couple of nights ago, I got pulled in and I saw what was going on. I'm not going to tell you the details because if _she_ wants you to know then _she'll_ tell you herself, but it involved her drinking from someone." One of his eyebrows raised in surprise and then he looked at Rose, I couldn't tell what he was thinking, but he looked as worried as I felt. "Just before... as her....desire escalated, I felt something take hold of her, I tried to resist being pulled into her and it worked for a while, but then it got too strong and.... well, I couldn't stop it. That's when I got the full version of what was happening to her. The thirst had her in an almost bloodlust... I've felt that once before in my life, Andre and I wanted to see who could go the longest without feeding when we were younger, I won after nearly five days but when I finally went to feed; my thirst was the only thing that occupied my mind...I nearly drank too much."

"But how can she have this thirst? She's not Moroi; she's not even like Dimitri." Christian glanced over to Dimitri who nodded to continue. "Even though he doesn't feed, coming back from being Strigoi and now being more Moroi, I could understand if _he_ felt those urges, but Rose...? I just don't understand how she can be experiencing this?"

"I don't know why either Christian. Let me think." I could see that Dimitri had been thinking the whole time I was speaking and then I saw a change in his face...something that doesn't happen very often. "What...what did you just think of?" I asked him. He looked at me surprised that I'd picked up on it.

"Do you think that there is some reason why the baby isn't getting the blood or not enough blood and _that's_ why the thirst is getting worse?"

"That's as good a reason as any. We should probably get the doctor over here, she may be unconscious right now but the thirst is still there." Dimitri nodded and went out to the lounge room to call the doctor. I turned to face Christian and for the first time in a long time, I saw concern for Rose on his face. I knew they loved each other; they were both just too damn stubborn to admit it. "We'll work this out Christian, we'll find out how to help her." I said. He looked at me and then back to Rose.

"If she's thinking about drinking from someone and she goes into that...place that you just had to knock her out of, could she....you know..." I knew what he meant, Rose had the same fears, but with Christian I could be honest....

"I really don't know. If she killed and really did drink them dry...I suppose the chance is there... I just don't know if her being Dhampir would make the difference and stop the transformation, then again, she _is_ half Moroi and she's carrying a Moroi child."

"Dr Walsh wants me to bring her in for tests." Said Dimitri from behind us. I could tell from his expression that he'd heard my conversation with Christian. "Liss, can you get Adrian to meet us there; I'd like to see if he can change her dreams."

"Of course. I'm sorry Dimitri."

"It's not your fault Liss. She doesn't have long to go in the pregnancy and hopefully once the baby arrives, these problems can be resolved. Is she in a lot pain?" he asked me. I couldn't lie, he'd know. I looked over to Rose and opened the bond to feel everything and then I answered him truthfully.

"Yes."


	45. Dreams Of All Shapes And Sizes

**Well, here tis guys... I know late again, but I got so involved in writing Alternate Universe that I forgot that I didn't finish  
this chapter... I have also added in a little information that I wasn't going to let you all in on yet, but I thought  
you probably all knew already anyway... so here it is!  
Enjoy!**

**Sandy**

* * *

**Chapter Forty Five**

Dreams Of All Shapes And Sizes

Blackness. It really is a gift sometimes. It was different than when Sonya held me in my own mind, this was just....nothing. Nothing but the burning. The burning of thirst in the back of my throat kept getting worse and worse, the pain emanating to my shoulders and arms; to my chest, stomach and legs. The _pain_.....

Suddenly the blackness becomes lighter; things start to appear around me, trees, dirt, rocks... I preferred the blackness to this desolate place. "Little Dhampir..." I turned to see Adrian standing behind me.

"Adrian." I smiled. "Why do you look so sad?"

"Are you alright?" he asked with a worried expression.

"I hurt. Everything hurts Adrian. What's happening, why am I in pain? I don't normally feel pain in our dreams."

"What do you remember?" I looked down at the ugly brown dirt at my feet and tried to pull the last thing in my mind to the forefront. A shower....a productive shower. Sitting on the sofa with Dimitri....getting horny....jumping on his lap.....

"No!" I let out in a horrified whisper.... Dimitri's neck, the smell, the thirst....the want. Then nothing. I looked back to Adrian's eyes as the memory came flooding back to me. "Did I hurt him? Please tell me I didn't hurt him....please!" The words caught in my throat as dread of what I might have done gripped my heart.

"You didn't hurt him, Rose." As a sob escaped my throat in relief, Adrian stepped forward and held me tight. "Liss was pulled in and she felt that you were in the grip of a bloodlust. Somehow she managed to get out of your head in time and came into your room and made you go to sleep. You're in the clinic now; Dr Walsh has taken some bloods and is testing it to see if anything can be found. Rose?" I pulled back from our embrace to look at him again. "I want to ask you something, something that may help work out what is going on. I need to try and make contact with your child."

"What? What do you mean by contact?"

"Well you know that I can't contact someone if I don't know what they look like, so Dr Walsh has to do a scan to make sure everything is still alright with the baby and I thought as long as he was doing that, I could see what the baby looks like and then I could go visit..." Even I could feel that my face was totally blank... "If I can visit the baby, I may be able to work out what it's thinking; if it's getting enough blood...that sort of thing. The contact won't be like with you or another person, your baby doesn't know how to talk yet, but I may be able to pick up on feelings, I don't know if it will work, but I'd like to give it a try....what do you think?" I stared at him trying to put all that he'd just asked into something I could comprehend. "I won't do it if you don't want me to, but Rose...we need to find a way to help you, Liss told me how much pain you're in."

"Yes." I said.

"Yes what?"

"Yes you can visit my child and yes, I'm in pain, I don't know why though. Why can't I get a break Adrian...why? Why does it all keep happening to me? Am I cursed?"

"No Rose, you're not cursed. I don't know why all this...stuff has happened to you, but at least you know you have people here who love you, right?" I nodded. "As far as the pain... Liss said that it's the pain of unquenched thirst. Alright, I have to go, but Liss is going to come and spend some time with you, I need you distracted so that I can differentiate between your mind and your baby's mind." He kissed my forehead and then the dream slowly dissipated back into blackness...

**8888888888888888888**

Adrian's Point of View.

I opened my eyes and looked at Rose's sleeping form and then I looked up to see Dimitri's worried expression.

"Is she alright?" he asked me.

"She's okay. She's confused as to why she's in so much pain, and she's horrified by what happened, she thinks she's cursed." A look of pain crossed his face and I knew it was from not being able to talk to her, not being able to comfort her. "Dimitri? I don't know if this will work, it's something that I've never tried to do before, but would you like to see if I can get you into her mind? If Sonya could bring that other strigoi in then it must be possible to bring non spirit users in."

"Thank you Adrian." He said nodding, relief softening his face. I got him to lie down beside her and hold her hand, I had no idea if that was needed but I'd give anything a go. I sat at the foot of the bed in between their legs and put a hand on each of them.

"I'll have to make you sleep then I'll come to you first. I don't mean this in a bad way, but I've visited Rose a lot since I've known her and I know her mind well, so it'll be easier for me to get you first." He nodded and then I closed my eyes. I went to Dimitri first and then while keeping a 'feel' for his mind, I reached out to Rose. I was standing on a beach this time and I looked to my left and I was pleased to see that I still had Dimitri with me, so then I called out to Rose. She was sitting on a rock at the water's edge a little way up the beach. She turned around to face me and then she saw Dimitri. At first I don't think she believed he was really here, she stood up and I could see her narrow her eyes at us.

"Roza." Dimitri said behind me. With that her stiff, unsure posture relaxed into relief and she took off towards us, she ran at breakneck speed through the sand. She wasn't slowing down as she got closer and I think Dimitri realised this at the same time. "Slow down!" he yelled as he held out his hands to her. Of course she took no notice and jumped into his arms at full speed knocking him to the ground.

"You're here, you're really here." She said while crying. She kissed his face over and over and that's when I thought was my time to leave.

"Ah guys..... guys...." they looked up at me like I'd intruded into something that I shouldn't have. "I'm going to go now, but I don't know if that will take Dimitri with me, I've never done this before so I have no idea. I'll go over there," I motioned over to the tree line. "to give you a minute or two and then I'll go. I'll do my best to keep Dimitri here, but I just don't know. If I can't do it, then I'll bring him back afterwards, if I can then I'll come back in a few hours so that he can leave alright?" They both just nodded, still lying on the sand looking at each other. I walked away to the trees but I heard Rose apologising for what happened back at the apartment. Once I got to the trees I thought about what I was about to do with the baby, I didn't know if it would work and even if it did, if I would be able to decipher the child's emotions. After a few more minutes, I looked over to where they were now sitting on the sand and called out to them.

"Rose, Dimitri." They turned around to look at me and I waved to them. They looked at each other and kissed; I closed my eyes and tried to imagine leaving everything here as it was and only taking myself out of the equation. When I opened my eyes I found myself looking at the still asleep Dhampirs lying in front of me. I just hoped that they were still together and not just asleep in their own heads. I got off the bed and walked around to where Dr Walsh was now set up to do the scan.

"Okay Doc, let's get this show on the road." He nodded and leant over and squeezed the gel onto Rose's stomach. As soon as I saw the image come up on the screen I smiled... Rose's baby...there was once a time when I had thought that maybe I would one day be looking at my child in Rose's stomach, but my life is now heading in a different direction with someone who brings a smile to my face just thinking about her. I sat down on the chair and stared at the image on the screen, looking at the child's face from all different angles; when I thought I knew its face well enough, I closed my eyes and concentrated.

At first I could feel the now familiar mind of Rose, it was _very_ active, so that was a good sign. I then felt Dimitri's also active mind and pushed them both away, then I felt something else, a softer, calmer.... more innocent mind I suppose you could say. I slowly pulled myself and that mind together. I waited to see if I could pull anything from the mind, but everything stayed dark. I didn't want to pull the child into a 'scene'.... so I just tried to feel emotions...feelings...anything really. The first thing I felt was hunger, extreme hunger, then there was something else...a feeling that I couldn't quite put my finger on. It was something like a mixture of apprehension and fear mixed with an immature and simple love. I may have been wrong, but that's the only name I could put to the feeling.

Okay, I now knew beyond a doubt that this child was hungry, _really_ hungry and I felt that this was probably why Rose feels the way she does, and then I felt a flutter in my head, similar to when Oksana touches people's minds. _There it is again...._ I thought to myself. Could it be the child? _No_.... I concentrated more on the feeling that came over and over in my mind.... Somehow I could feel the innocence behind the tingling. Suddenly I became aware of something in my arms; I looked down to see brown eyes looking back at me. I let out a gasp as I realised that the child had just placed itself in my arms. "Hello there little one." I whispered with a smile. I was transfixed by this child; I couldn't take my eyes away from it. I felt compelled to open my mind completely and then images of my life, my meeting Rose, Dimitri, Lissa, Christian... the attacks, love, hurt, happiness...everything that was in me, those images played out like a movie.

Then I realised what was going on, the child was seeing who I was, why I was here... This child was truly special, like no other person I've ever come across. Then I was shown images of Rose.... over and over, image after image...her laughing, crying, fighting and the whole time I was shown these images they came with an undercurrent of pure love. The child knew who she was, and as soon as I realised this the images changed to that of Dimitri. Dimitri laughing, fighting, kissing Rose, holding Rose and again with the same feeling of love. The child knew who its parents were. "Yes...they love you so much." I said smiling. Then I saw the most marvellous thing...the child's aura glowed...pure whites and pinks outlined in gold.... I had a feeling the child would be a spirit user like Yelena, but I didn't _know_ until now. I saw the child was becoming sleepy and so I spoke while I still could. "I'll try to help anyway I can." I said quietly. Then its eyes closed and its sleeping form slowly faded from my arms. I sighed deeply as I let go of the dream.

"Any luck?" said Dr Walsh as I opened my eyes.

"Oh, you have _no_ idea!" I said in wonder... "But first things first...the child is very hungry. Is there _any_ way that we can ensure the blood gets to the child?" The doctor sat with his brow creased and I could see that he was going through all known possibilities.

"Well, the ways that I know of are for Rose to drink, which obviously isn't working as well as we'd hoped. Then there is tubing it down in larger quantities, but if the problem isn't...." the doctor stopped talking as his eyes looked like they were focusing on a distant memory...

"What?" I said pulling him out of his thoughts.

"The problem isn't getting more blood into Rose; the problem is getting the blood to the baby. Somehow the baby is unable to get the blood from Rose's stomach like a Moroi child would from its Moroi mother." Then in a look of understanding the doctor stood up and went out of the room. I looked down at Rose and Dimitri and then to the bump in her stomach. I couldn't wait to meet this child face to face. Just then the Doctor came back in with a nurse and both carried tubes, IV equipment and bags of blood. I guess he noticed my confused look as he started to explain what was going on. "In the beginning of the pregnancy, when the child only needed small amounts of blood from Rose, everything was fine, then as the child's need increased, it took more and more from her, that's when the thirst became too much and she started drinking the blood, but it wasn't enough. The child gets the blood it needs through Roses own blood supply, _not_ through the stomach like Moroi..."

"So you're going to give it to her intravenously?" I asked.

"Yeah. Can you go back and see if the hunger wanes?" I nodded and waited until everything was set up and the blood was being pumped into her veins. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the child's mind once more. I smiled as this time I no longer felt that extreme hunger.....I felt....relief. I pulled back and came back to myself.

"It worked." I said simply. I looked over to Rose and wondered if I should go back now or wait a little longer. I went with the second option. I went outside with the doctor for a while, learning more about what Rose would have to do when she woke up because I knew that when I went back, she would have a lot of questions waiting for me. I also had to be careful that I didn't let slip what sex the child was... I didn't know if they already knew or not and I also had to be careful not to let on about the _other_ special thing about this child.... After an hour, the blood had been transfused and I was going to go back in and get Dimitri and then wake Rose up. I really hoped that this had worked for her.

I sat down on the bed again, sitting between their legs. I placed a hand on each of them and closed my eyes; finding myself on the beach once again. I stayed in the trees, not looking around...after all; I didn't really need to see any R rated stuff! "Rose, Dimitri? Are you decent?"

"Yes Adrian, we're decent..." I heard Rose say with a small laugh. I poked my head around the tree I was standing against and walked out onto the sand. She was sitting between Dimitri's legs with her back against his chest.

"How's the pain Rose?" She smiled at me and then stood up. She walked over to me and put her hands on my shoulders and then kissed my cheek.

"It was pretty bad and then a little while ago, I felt it slipping away... It's gone now, completely gone. What did you do?" she asked.

"Come over here and I'll tell you both." We walked back over to Dimitri and sat down. I told them _almost_ everything that had happened with the baby. I didn't let on that I'd held the child in my arms; what it had shown me or its aura, I just said about the feelings I got, feelings of hunger and then I told them about what the doctor had done and why. Relief showed on both their faces, relief that they now knew their child was getting the blood it needed, relief that now Rose wouldn't suffer that bloodlust again. I asked them if they wanted to leave but I got raised eyebrows from both of them.

"What time is it Adrian?" Rose asked.

"Um, nearly midnight I think...why?"

"Come wake us up at six... Knock first though hey..." she said with a wink. I laughed softly as I stood up.

"Have fun you two. I'll see you in a few hours." I let myself come away from Rose's dream and back to the clinic room.

"Well, wake them up." Lissa said to me from behind. I turned around to see her standing there with her hands on her hips.

"They told me to come back at six." I said. Christian laughed and Lissa just sighed loudly and shook her head.

"Honestly, they really are like rabbits those two... They're at each other all the time!" That was Christian's undoing... he burst out laughing which was rather infectious, earning both of us death glares from Lissa. I knew she was anxious about Rose and how she was feeling so I told her that the blood infusion had worked. It calmed her down and then I was bombarded with questions about what had happened with the baby. I wondered if I should tell her everything, and I knew that she would see the child's aura once it was born anyway, so I started from the beginning.... afterwards, she and Christian both sat there with their mouths open in awe... they couldn't believe what I was telling them.

"This really is one _very_ special child, hey!" Lissa whispered. We all got up and went to a room that had been set up for us to sleep in and then in the morning, I would wake the happy couple and life could carry on as normal.... well as normal as our lives get.


	46. Predictions, Plans and Forgiveness

**Okay... I finally got it up. You guys are so patient! :-D Anyway, the ball has started to roll and things are in place, so...  
On with the show! **

**Enjoy everyone... Sandy**

* * *

**Chapter Forty Six**

Predictions, Plans and Forgiveness

I opened my eyes and found myself looking into the eyes of my stunning Russian God, no matter how many times I've woken to this sight, it still took my breath away every time.

"Dobroye utro milaya moya" he said softly.

"Dobroye utro moya muzh." We laid there for a few seconds just staring at each other, both remembering our time at 'our beach', that was until someone interrupted our shared silent reminiscence.

"Uh-hum!" Dimitri and I both looked around to see Adrian standing at the end of our bed with an all too knowing smirk on his face. "Good morning you two, slept well I gather?"

"Yes and no." Dimitri said just barely holding in a laugh. "Although I must say that I really, _really_ like that beach." I couldn't help but laugh at his greatly improved sense of humour.

"Yeah... Not what I needed to know. You told me to wake you at six, so here I am...waking you at six. Now...I have somewhere else to be." He went to go but there was something that I wanted to talk to him about.

"Adrian?" I said. He turned to look at me and I could see that he knew what I was about to ask him. "What happened? Obviously you made contact."

"Yeah, I did." He said. He quickly glanced at Dimitri but it wasn't a look between conspirators, he was more looking at him like he was trying to gage how much to say, then he looked back to me. "So, did you guys find out if the baby was a girl or a boy yet?"

"No," I said, "but Dimitri knows, his grandmother told him apparently. But I don't know, why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason." He knew what the baby was....but now he knew not to say anything to me. I _could_ make him tell me I suppose, but he probably wouldn't.

"What sort of contact did you have with the baby?" I could see in his eyes he was again trying to think of what to say and what not to say.

"Um...feelings and what not. How about you guys get washed up and meet us at the cafe and I'll buy you both a coffee, or in your case Rose, a hot chocolate." I smiled at him but I'd picked up on his wording....

"Us? Who's us?"

"Everyone." He said with a shrug of his shoulders. Dimitri nodded and got off the bed and Adrian walked to the door and waved at me before he walked out and shut the door.

"Do _you_ know anything about what happened?" I asked Dimitri.

"No my love... I was a little busy with you at the time, remember?" I smiled as I remembered exactly how busy he was.

* * * * *

"When did you get here Mom?" I asked.

"About an hour after the phone call."

"Who called you?" My mother's eyes darted over to Dimitri and I looked at him in surprise.

"I thought you'd like your parents here..." he said with a smile. My relationship with my parents had seen the extremes of emotion over the last twelve months, I used to hate my mother with a passion, probably more than any other living being....well sort of, but all of that hostility was now gone. I understood my mother from an adult's point of view now, not a hurt, rebellious child's prospective. I know now the impossible position she'd been in; in love with someone that she didn't think she had a future with, pregnant with his child and no family back up. Life as a Dhampir was hard enough without doing it with no family to speak of. My father.... well he was a different story, I never hated him because I never knew him... it had been easier to move forward with that relationship.

"So are you feeling better now Rose?" asked my father.

"Yeah, I can still feel the thirst there in the background, but it's probably the best it's ever been, so all's good!" I looked over to Adrian and Vikki; I didn't need to see aura's to see how happy they made each other. "So Adrian, you never finished telling me about what happened." I got the same look that I got this morning in the clinic.

"There's only so much that I can tell you little Dhampir."

"Why?"

"Because. You will know in due course, but for now...know that your child is..." his eyes narrowed trying to think of the ideal word. "Perfect." I was dying to know more but that was all I was going to get out of him. Dimitri's arm tightened around my shoulders and as I looked up, I saw him smiling at Adrian.

"So Dimitri." Christian piped up, "How's the fire wielding going?" I didn't think Dimitri's smile could get any bigger but it did.

"Quite good actually. I've been working on something..." he looked at me with an amused face and then held out his hand, palm up. We all watched as a single flame rose up from his skin and then started to spiral into a corkscrew shape. I looked at his face to see his eyes narrow slightly in concentration. Then the flame started to move around his hand. But in his best show of control, the flame increased in size and rolled into a ball, then he made the ball of fire rise up above the table, hovering in mid air and then he brought it back into his hand and extinguished it.

"Holy shit!" exclaimed Christian. "_That_ was friggin awesome! How long did it take you to learn that?"

"Not long." He said obviously proud of himself. One thing that has been a constant with my husband is the need for his self control.

"That was pretty hot you know." I whispered to him. Just then I noticed from the corner of my eye that someone had entered the cafe, but was standing just inside the doorway. I turned to see who it was and was taken aback to see Rhonda standing there staring at me. I could see by her slight nervousness that she wanted to speak to me, all I had to do was look away and she would have left, but I knew she wouldn't have come here unless she thought it imperative. "I'll be back in a minute." I whispered in Dimitri's ear. His eyes looked behind me and saw Rhonda but I shook my head and got up from my chair.

"I had to see you." She said as I approached.

"I know. What's wrong?"

"Last night, I had a dream. I don't normally get them, but something told me that I needed to consult the cards, so I did." I didn't like the way she said 'dream'.... they didn't normally bode well for me.

"And...?"

"Well, I still see you finding what you're after, and it will still be successful, but only if you go in the next 24 hours, after that..." she grimaced as she looked down to the ground. I suddenly had the bad feeling that Sonya wasn't as dead as I'd hoped.

"Go where Rhonda?"

"Same place. It's a familiar home where spirit once lived. I'm sorry Rose that I can't be more definite with my answers, but I really felt that I had to come." I nodded and thanked her and then watched her as she left the cafe. I stood there lost in my thoughts about what she had said; when I felt hands come around me from behind and rest on my stomach.

"What did she say?" he asked. I turned to face him and took a deep breath before telling him.

"I don't think Sonya is as dead as we'd hoped." I whispered. His forehead creased as he held my eyes with his. "She said that she still sees us finding what we're after and sees us succeeding but only if we go in the next 24 hours. The only thing we were after back then, when she first told me this reading was Sonya...to me it sounds like Sonya is still...out there."

"Well if she is, then we need to deal with this before she can...come back." We both knew what he meant; it was only because of the other spirit user's abilities and the fact that we caught her by surprise. That we'd succeeded in getting me out of my...internal prison; I didn't think she'd be so easy to defeat next time. I nodded to Dimitri in agreement and then we went back to the table, the others needed to know what was going on.

_What did she want Rose?_ Liss asked silently.

_I'll tell you all in a tic. _She nodded but kept her eyes firmly on me.

"What did she want?" asked Adrian. I smiled quickly as I looked around at all the faces that looked back at me, knowing that they all had their 'battle faces' on. I looked at Liss and spoke to her first.

_Keep calm alright. _She gave me a small but quick nod. "Well, she had a dream..." at that word, I felt fear shock through the bond, but it wasn't fear for herself, it was for me. "It's alright Liss." I said. "Um, she said that in the dream, she felt that she had to consult the cards and they told her the same thing as before... that we'd find what we were after in a familiar home where spirit once lived... I don't think Sonya's dead, well anymore than she already is." Lissa's gaze dropped to where her hands laid in her lap as she thought to herself, her emotions filtering through the bond... fear, apprehension, determination... The others all wore pretty much the same expression as each other... resolve, they knew what was coming, what would have to happen and they were all ready.

"When do we leave." Said Christian. I smiled at my Sparky, he'd grown so much in the last 12 months, I saw his confidence soar and he was now a pretty good fighter, for a Moroi anyway. His fire wielding ability had improved as well with all the training that he, my father and Dimitri had been doing. I was really proud of him.

"She said that she saw us succeeding if we left in the next 24 hours, so I guess it's going to be soon." We thought that this conversation was better done in the privacy of our apartment, so as we all walked back to the apartment building, my father called Pavel and Sergei in from their leave...even though they were still here at the Royal Court and Dimitri called Robert and Oksana to meet us at our place. Over the next hour or two we spoke at length about what needed to be done, I couldn't believe how quickly things came together. A knock at the door pulled me from my ponderings so I got up to answer it. I couldn't believe who was standing in front of me.

"What do you want?" I said. My hand tightened on the edge of the door as I tried to control my temper.

"I ran into Rhonda."

"And...that's my problem because...?"

"I want to help Rose."

"You are the last person I want anywhere near me. What makes you think that I would even want you help?" Just then I became aware that Lissa was standing beside me.

"Why are you here Tasha?" Lissa asked. I saw Tasha's eyes fall to my stomach and when her eyes came back up to mine, I saw resignation.

"I ran into Rhonda just before and she told me that she'd just come from seeing you and I want to help anyway I can." She then looked back to me and continued, "I'm sorry Rose, for everything that I did to you and Dimitri. I had no right and for that I will never forgive myself, but if I can help.... it might redeem me in a small way." I felt someone tapping my hand that was still in a death grip on the door and I turned to my left to see Adrian. He held a notebook in his hand that he'd written, _'Her aura tells me she's telling the truth.' _I looked at him and he nodded to me. I looked back to Tasha and did something that I never thought I'd do.... I let her in.

My mother stood up with her fist clenched tightly and Dimitri looked almost as mad. "Can I ask you why you let her in?" he asked me.

"Because there comes a time when things just need to be forgiven. She wants to help and we could use her help. Christian is part of my family; she is part of his..." His face softened as he smiled at me and then he put his hands on either side of my face as he kissed me.

"I hope that you never change Roza, that you keep amazing me every day of my life."

"Deal." I said. I turned around to see Robert and Yelena both smiling at me. _What? _I asked Robert silently.

_Nothing really, you did the right thing Rosemarie. _He said smiling... I poked my tongue at him and he laughed quietly at me. Dimitri steered me out to the patio and pulled me into his body, wrapping his duster around my body to keep me warm.

"Do you really want her help?"

"Yes. She's a strong fighter both physically and magically, and the more fire users we have, the better our chances." I said shrugging my shoulders.

"I can't believe that I ever called you childish. You're the strongest person I've ever met." Our 'moment' broken when we heard someone clear their throat.

"Guys, everyone is coming over to my place for lunch, you two want to come too?" said Adrian.

"On the condition that there are donuts." I said in my usual Rose manner.

"Just for you little Dhampir." He said laughing. As I came back into the room, I saw that everyone had already left for Adrians, everyone except Christian.

"Can I talk to you alone?" he asked. I nodded and Dimitri kissed my cheek, and then followed Adrian out leaving just the two of us. "I know how hard that must have been for you to do Rose; I don't know if I would have been that forgiving. I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for giving her a chance, she won't let you down."

"Christian, as much as I hate what she did and tried to do to me and Dimitri, I understand that strong emotions can make you do some pretty crazy things sometimes, things you might not normally do. I know she loves Dimitri, and I also understand her....inability...her reluctance to let him go. Had the shoe been on the other foot, I may found myself doing something similar. We're family Christian and I meant what I said a few weeks ago, you're my brother...and she's your aunt, and apart from your children she's the only blood family you have left, she will always be a part of your life, and as such...a part of mine. And I plan on having a long, long life yet to live and I want to live it in peace with all of my family." Before I had a chance to say anything else, he flung himself to me, wrapping me in his arms and squeezing tight.

"I love you Rose." He said. I smiled but I didn't want to lose our 'perfect relationship' with fluff so... I replied the only way I could.

"Oh...shit! She finally got to you didn't she... She's made you all fluffy and soft. Now you're going to have to sit out of the fight, 'fluffy and soft' can't fight Strigoi you know!" I felt him laugh against me as he kept hugging me.

"Don't fight it Rose, you know you love me too!" We laughed together as I finally gave in and hugged him back. As we pulled apart, I saw Lissa and Dimitri standing at the door smiling at us.

_Thank you Rose, you don't know how much that meant to him. _Said Liss privately.

The rest of the day was pretty much spent together as a group, going over and over what was expected of each other, we ate dinner together and then we separated to sleep as we'd planned on getting up just before sunrise, we still had to clear our travel plans with Queen Bitch, after all, we were taking nine Moroi, twelve if you count the twins and Dimitri, out of the security of the Court. Tomorrow was going to be a big day and we all needed to be at our best.

* * *

**At the start of the chapter there was some Russian spoken between Dimitri and Rose, I thought I'd put the meaning here.**

"Dobroye utro milaya moya" he said softly. **He said 'Good morning my sweet."**

"Dobroye utro moya muhz." **She said 'Good morning my husband'.**


	47. No Turning Back Now

**Well, here it is... the end is getting closer and closer... but there are a few more chapters to go.  
Thank you all so much for your reviews, and I'm glad to see that you are all still enjoying the story so much.**

**Sandy****Chapter Forty Seven**

* * *

No Turning Back Now

I found myself standing next to a tree line that followed this long straight stretch of road. I walked up to the bitumen and looked both ways, but I couldn't see any signs of life either way. Confused, I turned around and faced the trees again, they didn't seem familiar in any way. I'd spent some time walking the perimeter of the Court and there was nothing like this around there so I found myself tossing up whether I should walk along the road or go into the trees and even though something told me to go into the trees, I decided on the road. I chose to go to my right, after all it was a 50/50 chance that I'd choose the wrong way, and after walking for nearly an hour, the scenery hadn't changed and I started to lose hope... a little. Again I felt the pull towards the trees so I weighed my options... keep walking forward to God knows where and for God knows how long or go into the trees and hopefully find someone to tell me where in the hell I was. I turned to my right and went into the trees.

I'd only gone maybe 30 feet into them when the temperature suddenly dropped. I could still see the sun poking through the tree tops every now and again but it didn't help warm the air around me. I'd been walking for probably twenty minutes more when I had the feeling that I was being watched. I walked over to a fallen tree and sat down, making out that I had sore feet. I took one of my shoes off and rubbed my foot while I listened out for any sound. If there was someone here, they were being exceptionally quiet, my enhanced hearing wasn't picking up anything, so thinking that I'd finally lost the plot I put my shoe back on and continued walking. Again, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being watched, so I decided to be my normal self and confront.

I stopped walking and turned around to face the way I'd come, "If you want to know who I am, come out and ask...don't slink around in the shadows. I know you're there." I took a deep breath as my senses bristled. "I won't be going any further until you come out." Still nothing, so I sat down on the ground crossing my legs and waited. It wasn't long and I heard leaves rustling to my left, like someone was walking through the underbrush, but it seemed like there was too much noise for just one person. I stood up to face the noise but my heart started beating as I realised that the sounds were coming from multiple directions. I started backing away to an area where I couldn't hear anything and when I started to feel that familiar feeling in the pit of my stomach; I spun and took off as fast as my legs could carry me. I didn't know in which direction I was heading, I'd turned around so many times since coming into the trees, I had no chance of finding the road now, so I ran just like I'd been taught.

I could hear the light footsteps getting closer behind me and I pushed harder and harder, my legs were burning and my lungs felt like they were being shredded with each breath I took. I knew that sooner or later I would either fall, run out of steam or be over taken by the creatures running at my heels. It looked like the second option was going to be my undoing when I saw the outline of a person up ahead of me. The footsteps coming through the ferns and saplings of the forest still sounded behind me pushing me forward and the nauseous feeling in the pit of my stomach increased exponentially as the figure in front appeared....this sent off alarm bells in my head so I turned sharply to my left hoping that I could get away. My eyes darted in between looking ahead and looking to the ground and back. I had to plot out where I was running, make sure that I wasn't going to trip over some fallen tree and keep an eye out for any rocks that may be my downfall. I darted around a small cluster of trees that I wasn't able to go through and as I went around pain shot up through my foot.

"AAAHHHH!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. My body crashed to the forest floor, sticks digging into my arms, tearing at my flesh as I landed and my shoulder slammed into what looked like a small granite boulder jutting out of the ground. I layed my head back against the ground and squeezed my eyes shut in pain. My left hand grabbed my injured right shoulder as I lifted my head off the ground and looked to see what was wrong with my foot. I gasped as I saw the point of a stick poking out of the arch of my foot; I slowly sat up and gritted my teeth as I used my left hand to pull the stick out. The pain was excruciating. I'm sure I screamed although it may have just been in my head... I felt as though I was going to throw up or pass out, the skin of my face suddenly felt pasty and sweaty and the intense pain was throbbing up my leg. I looked up and tried to listen out for those following me but I could no longer hear them...had they given up? Strigoi never give up....where _were_ they? My questions were soon answered as my nausea shot through the roof... They were here.

"Hello Rosemarie." Came the chilling voice behind me. I slowly turned around from where I sat on the forest floor and looked into the glowing red ringed eyes of Sonya Karp. "I didn't think I would be meeting you again so soon, but seeing as you're here...we should get this party started." I scrambled up to my feet and nearly collapsed again as my foot where the stick had been pulsed with more pain than I thought possible.

"Why aren't you dead? You said that..." I swallowed the bile that rose in my throat back down so that I could continue. "you said that if you died in my head, you died out here. Why aren't you dead?" The smile that spread across her face was one of pure evil and made my skin crawl...

"I wanted to have a little bit of fun.... after all, if you didn't fear anything there, you would have just sat and waited me out. I couldn't have that."

"So you lied." I said flatly. She shrugged her shoulder and in a flash she was standing in front of me. "Where are we? I know I'm not really here." Her eyes closed slightly as her nostrils flared... she looked down to where the blood from my injured foot pooled amongst the decaying leaves and dirt.

"Are you sure Rosemarie? You blood smells real enough, it smells.... good enough to eat." She whispered. Shivers ran down my spine as her minions came out of their hiding spots and circled us. I was praying really, really hard that she was indeed telling me the truth about not being able to die here, because I knew what was going to happen next, I wasn't going to be so lucky this time. My shoulder hung limply at my side, I knew it was broken from the fall, the pain from that and my foot and the loss of blood was now making me giddy. "Ah Rosemarie... Don't go passing out on me yet, and don't go losing too much of that blood either." She walked around behind me, leaning in close and sniffing around my neck. The other Strigoi that surrounded us all wore the same hungry desire for my blood, but she was clearly their leader and not someone they would go against. "Don't worry guys..." she said to them. "You can share the baby."

"NO!" I screamed. I would have said more but before I knew what was happening, her teeth sank into the soft skin of my neck. The initial pain and the giddiness from before increased but was soon replaced by the endorphin high of her bite. I felt myself slipping away... but then she let me fall to the ground. The others came and laid me out onto my back but I was so weak and so high, I did nothing to stop them. Just then a familiar face loomed above me... "Rhonda...? Help me..." I whispered. She smiled as I looked into her red ringed eyes.

"I am Rosemarie. Who do you think I've been working for?" I stared at her in confusion... "Do you the meaning of my name Rosemarie? My name was taken from a little Welsh place called 'Rhondda Valley' which was named after the river that ran through it. I thought someone as smart and inquisitive as you would have figured out that old woman's prediction by now. Oh well...it doesn't matter now." Then I felt a burning pain across my stomach as she dragged her sharp finger nail over my skin. I tried screaming but nothing came out, I was so weak... I felt tugging and then my heart clenched as I saw my child in her hands. She looked at me with her eyebrows raised and said the last thing I heard before blackness took me.... "Yummy..."

* * *

"Rose.... Roza, wake up... Rose..." I heard his voice before I saw his face. I was being shaken... and then I opened my eyes and saw I was in my bedroom. I clutched at my stomach as I sat up and closed my eyes; I couldn't stop the sobs as they ripped from throat. My stomach turned and bile came up..._this_ time it was coming out. I scrambled off the bed and ran to our bathroom to throw up. Dimitri was behind me keeping my hair out of the way. "Rose...what happened? Please tell me." I stood up and went to the basin to rinse out my mouth and brush my teeth. After that I turned around to see his worried face.

"She's still here. She lied... Dying in there, won't kill you out here." My hands once again cradled the angel in my belly. He saw my movement and his face turned hard.

"What did she do?" he said through clenched teeth.

"She bit me. But I now know who the puppet was." He looked at me confused for a second but then understanding crossed his face and he nodded his head. "It's Rhonda. Sh...she..." I couldn't say the words. I felt like I was going to be sick again as Dimitri pulled me into his arms and held me tight.

"Shh... She won't get within 100 feet of either of you ever again. I'll kill her first." I could tell by the tone of his voice he meant it. I turned my face into his chest and cried... As much as I didn't want it to, the image of Rhonda holding my child in her cold, evil hands played over and over in my mind.

"She took our baby...right out me." I whispered. I felt his whole body tense and I became aware that his skin was now starting to burn. I looked up at him and his face was twisted into... a face I'd seen before, a cold, calculating, pallid face. _LISS! WAKE UP.... LISS HELP!_ I held onto him tightly, not game to let him go in fear of what he would do.

_Rose...where are you?_

_In the bathroom... quickly, make him go to sleep. _"Lissa is coming in... don't hurt her." I said to him. He looked down at me and then turned to face the open bathroom door. Liss stood there a few feet away and her eyes widened as she saw the look in his face.

"Sleep..." she said, her voice like silk. She tilted her head to one side and walked a step forward. "Sleep Dimitri." I wasn't even looking at her eyes and I could feel the cloud falling around my head. I was jolted out of it as I felt his body start to fall, I caught him easily enough and I looked up to see Christian standing behind Liss.

"Thanks. Can you guys help me get him to the bed?" They nodded and took one leg each while I grabbed him under his arms. Had he been a true Moroi with the slight Moroi build, I would have been able to move him easily by myself, but he wasn't... he was big and he was muscle bound, and muscle weighed a lot!

"What happened? I thought he'd gained control of this." Christian asked me once we'd gone out to the lounge room. I looked to Liss and she looked down to the carpet.

_Do you know? _I asked her.

She nodded and looked back up to my eyes. "You pulled me in." I looked back to Christian and told him what had happened with Sonya and Rhonda.

"Then when I told Dimitri that she'd taken our child right from my stomach, he just..." Liss put her hand on my arm telling me that I didn't need to say anymore. The look on Christian's face changed to something I hadn't seen in a long time, he had the same look he'd had when we first came back to the Academy, his eyes even grew colder than normal.

"He's right you know." Christian said determined. "She won't get a chance to touch either of you. I you don't believe anything else, believe that."

"What I want to know is why Sonya would come to you now..." said Lissa. "Why wouldn't she just let you come to her? Because of Rhonda's so called dream and her telling you that we needed to go in the next 24 hours, she knew where you'd be going _and_ she knew when...why would she come to you now and possibly make you think it was a trap and risk you not coming?" I thought about this for a minute... it was true; she only had to sit back and wait for me, why would she do this now?

"Maybe she's trying to confuse us. She'd know that by doing what she's done, we'd know it was a trap...we'd either keep to the plan or...." my thoughts trailing off, but then suddenly I thought of the "or" part that I hadn't thought of before... "Or... we'd hold off giving her more time to get more minions or more time to work out how to get you into your head like she did me."

We sat there for a minute before Christian broke the silence. "That's truly diabolical. Either way, she thinks she's going to get what she wants. So what are we going to do? Go...or stay?" Lissa and I looked at each other and without missing a beat we both spoke at the same time.

"Go..." Better to know what we're walking into than get pulled into a situation we may not be able to fight.

We said goodnight to each other and I walked back into the bedroom. I went to my side of the bed and got in beside Dimitri. He was now back to his normal temperature and I'd actually thought to have Liss wake him up from this induced sleep, but I knew there was no way my eyes were going to close now, so one of us had to at least get some sleep. I laid there for the next two hours and waited until I knew the sun was on its way up. I felt through the bond to see if Liss was awake...which she was, so I asked her to come wake him up. I didn't know if he would be happy with what we did to him, but I guess we were about to find out.

She touched his forehead with one finger and he slowly started to rouse. He opened his eyes and looked at me, "Morning." He said with a slight smile.

"Good morning my love. I'm sorry." I said quietly. He brought up one hand and rested it against my cheek.

"What do you have to be sorry about maya krasaveetsa? You did the right thing. Are you alright?" He asked me as he sat up. I nodded and then Lissa told us that she'd meet us out the front of the building in half an hour. "It won't happen Rose. I know I said once before that I'd always be here and wouldn't let anything happen to you and then...Nathan got the best of me and I let you down. But that _won't_ happen again, believe that."

"I love you...and I believe you, always." He pulled me into him and held me tight and for a fleeting moment, all was right in my world. "Come on," I said as I pulled away. "We have Strigoi to eliminate." Then his lopsided smile that I love spread across his face and then he kissed me. We got changed and grabbed our bags that we'd packed the night before and met everyone downstairs.

As we walked out to where everyone was waiting, I looked around and as soon as I looked into Yelena's eyes she gasped. Everyone turned to look at her and noticed she was looking at me. "No." She whispered.

"Yelena, what's wrong?" Robert asked her. Yelena looked at him and showed him what she'd seen in my mind; his face contorted and his body stiffened.

"That won't happen." He said with conviction. Everyone was now asking to see what was going on and thankfully Yelena looked to me asking permission.

"No." I said simply, "It won't happen..." and then I walked over to the cars effectively ending the conversation. I knew my mother wouldn't stop harassing me until she saw what Yelena had seen, but soon it would all be mute. Soon we would have this situation handled, Sonya would be killed and the threat to me and my child would no longer be an issue.

My father had somehow arranged for three of the queens private cars to take us to his house. These cars were bullet proof, bomb proof and any other 'proof' you could possibly want and we got three extra guardians as well. I found it rather funny how...accommodating, she'd been since Robert had 'talked' to her. We'd worked out the night before who was going in what car; we had to make sure that the Moroi had enough guardians with them at all times.

In the first car would be Dimitri & I, Lissa & Christian, Mom, Dad & Pavel. In the second car was Adrian & Vikki, Robert & Yelena and the Guardians Bishop, Mitchell & Campbell. The third car had Oksana & Mark, Mia & Tasha and the Guardians MacLean, Petrovskii and Sergei. Unbeknownst to me at the time, my father had asked Yelena to see if Tasha could be trusted and as far as she could tell, Tasha only had truthful intentions.

"So Robert," I said. "How do you feel about going back?"

"I'm fine Rosemarie, but thank you for asking. And don't worry too much, none of us will let anything happen to you or your baby." Now for the two hour trip to my father's mansion, hopefully we would all get there in one piece. As much as I worried about all of my friends and family that were now in these three cars, there was one soul that occupied my mind more than any other, the soul that I'd seen ripped from my body... I'd been shown how easy it would be for them to have me in a position where I was unable to stop them...and make me watch.


	48. It All Ends Now

**Well... I've finally got to putting this up for you all. It's a rather large chapter, but I couldn't cut it in two...  
I hope you like it, and don't forget to review for me... I didn't get many with the last one... Wasn't it any good? :-)**

**Anyway, Enjoy!  
Sandy**

* * *

**Chapter Forty Eight**

It All Ends Now.

Our car was in the middle of the other two as we drove, because Liss and I were obviously Sonya's intended targets; my father wanted us protected as much as possible. It started raining not long after we'd left the Court and as the wet road slowly fell behind us, I found myself staring out the window, watching the water play on the glass. Certain parts of the nightmare replayed over and over no matter how much I tried not to think about it. What happened....what she threatened to do to me and my child...it was something that I would never forget no matter how much I wanted to. I knew it wasn't real, but I felt a little part of my heart and soul break away when Rhonda did what she did. I was jolted out of my thoughts when I felt Dimitri's hand on mine.

"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you from that Rose." He said sadly. I sighed deeply when I was met with eyes that held so much sadness.

"You have _nothing_ to be sorry about. We've gone through a lot of shit in a relatively short time, but you know what? I don't think there'd be too much that I'd change. Some things I would, but I love my life, I thank God everyday that you found me in Portland. You've made me who I am today, if you hadn't found me when you did, pushed me to train harder and become a better guardian, I don't think Lissa and I would have made it too long in the outside world. I look back now and see how inadequate and unprepared I was, so don't _ever_ be sorry, you saved me _and_ Lissa when you came into our lives. And you gave me the most precious gift of all..." I said holding my belly. "Sometimes I don't think you really see what you've brought to my life....but I have." Then he smiled and leant forward and kissed me so softly and with so much love, I couldn't help but respond. I sort of forgot that we were in a car full of people...until Liss silently reminded me.

_I hope we're not all going to have front row seats into your love life, Rose... _Dimitri pulled away slightly when we both started giggling... and then glanced around at the other people in the car. He looked back to me with a rather smug look on his face and wiggled his eyebrows...

"Later..." he mouthed to me. He certainly knew how to take my mind off things... "I just want to get one thing straight, alright..." he said to me. "If she _is_ waiting for us out there, you are _not_ to leave my side. You are to stay with me at _all_ times, do you understand? I won't be able to concentrate if I'm worried about where you are."

"I promise." I said easily. He never demanded anything from me, but this is one situation where I would gladly surrender to him. The next hour was fairly uneventful; we talked mostly about Sonya, what her plan was and how we would counteract anything she would throw at us, and then I felt a little tickle in my head, like the feeling I get when Oksana was brushing my mind. _Why would she be doing that?_ I wondered. I thought about asking her what was wrong, but then I realised that we were only about half an hour away from our destination so I let it go and just ask her when we got there, then I started feeling sick. "They're here..." I said. Dimitri's hand instantly went to his earpiece to alert everyone else. Everyone, even the Moroi had been given earpieces; we wanted to ensure that everyone could call for help if they needed it.

"Be on alert." He said. Suddenly the atmosphere in the car charged with electricity, all eyes turned to the windows and scanned...

"They're closer..." I said turning on my earpiece. A second later we saw them come out from the trees. We saw the lead car plough into two strigoi, but we knew it was useless, they'd only latch on and come through the windows and trying to fight inside a car was a death sentence for us. All the cars screeched to a halt, doors were flung open and guardians went into action.

I looked around at the number of strigoi that surrounded us; my first thought was my child and then my thoughts raced as I they went back to the fact that Lissa and the girls were in the SUV; I would _not_ let anything happen to them..._ever_. My guardian instincts kicked in, I had to protect them, the others were just as important to me....I would make sure that they were all safe, but Liss and the twins....they came first. At this point in time, I thanked my lucky stars that I'd made Dimitri keep up my training while pregnant, I knew that I had to protect my child, but there was no sitting out of this fight, there were too many. As the first strigoi came at me; I steadied myself into an attack position. As he got within fighting distance to me, I ducked under his raised arm as he tried to strike at me and as I came up behind him, I thrust the stake into the chest of the strigoi that was following close behind him. I pulled the stake out of his chest and then dropped down into a squat and as I spun around on my toes, ripping the stake across the back of the legs of the fist strigoi. He let out a violent scream as the silver burnt into his flesh and then he turned to face me but I'd cut into his hamstrings and as he fell towards me, I plunged my stake deep into his chest.

I pushed him aside and looked to see Dimitri fighting, his speed was breathtaking, I'd never seen him do this...no-one amongst us had the speed to keep up with him. I snapped myself out of it and turned to see a female coming at me fast, so I sprang from my crouched position, hitting into her chest with my shoulder. The impact was hard and I stumbled somewhat to the side; I quickly regained my balance but she hit out at me and connected slightly with my cheek. I used the momentum and turned to my left and then in one fluid motion I swapped the stake into my left hand and held it backwards and thrust it into her stomach, she screamed in agony as I turned around to face her and punched out. She fell back to the ground and I quickly jumped on top and drove my stake deeply into her chest. I was aware of the others fighting around me because I would catch a glimpse of flames from the corner of my eye every now and then. Also somewhere in my mind I was also aware that it was no longer raining, even though I was still getting wet....Mia. She was working with Campbell and Bishop and I was reminded of the time I said that her specialty wasn't much use in a fight...

I paid the price for my momentary lack in concentration... another strigoi lunged at me and grabbed me around the throat, we fell back onto the ground hard, I looked up at him but before I could do anything he burst into flames. I back peddled out from underneath him and glanced behind me, Dimitri held his hand out towards me and smiled, "No lying down yet my love..." he said. By his face, I could have sworn that he was having fun....then I saw his eyes dart to his right as he heard another come up behind him. He turned back to face the advancing strigoi as I leapt up and finished off the burning one. I crouched into the fighting stance as another female ran to me and I lunged forward with the stake but it deflected off a rib, she shrieked in pain as I spun around wiping the point of the stake across her throat. I came back down onto my toes and slashed at her legs like I did with the first strigoi and she dropped onto all fours, I leapt onto her back driving the stake in deep.

I quickly looked around as saw that there were no more here with me so I looked over to see my father and Tasha, back to back shooting flames from their hands as my mom, Pavel and Sergei finished them off. I was torn as I wanted to run and help with the fight, but that would leave Liss and the twins in the car with only Christian for defence. I made a quick assessment of remaining strigoi and from what I could see there were at least 15 more, but I couldn't see Sonya; that didn't mean she wasn't here though. It still amazed me to see little Mia wielding huge balls of water with ease, her control of her magic was strong now.

As I ran, I felt a hard blow to my ribs; I stumbled and fell to the ground. My attacker was on me before I even opened my eyes, but as I did, I couldn't believe what I was seeing.... It was Molly, the Moroi that was turned at the same time as Dimitri. She screeched as she raised her hand to punch me. The blow was hard and I saw black splotches in front of my eyes..... She held my wrists firmly in her hands on the ground and then leant forward, "From what I remember Rose, you were better than _this_... I would have thought you'd be a far more worthy opponent by now." She whispered into my ear. "But then again..." she looked down at my pregnant belly. "You are a little hindered by that _thing_ in your stomach..." Her words pulled the image of Rhonda holding my child in her hands into clear focus and they fuelled my protective instinct to an almost animalistic need to destroy.

"Oh, you haven't seen my best yet Molly." I growled through my teeth. "And my child is _not_ a thing!" I pushed my body up and got enough leverage to ram my knee into her side. She jumped away from me allowing me to get into position, we circled each other and then she leapt at me, screaming again...what was with the screaming! I could see what she was going to do as she started her attack so I quickly holstered my stake and fell forward into what was fast becoming known as the 'Hathaway manoeuvre'.... As she went over the top of me, I fell forward onto one hand and kicked out with both feet into the back of my now landing opponent. I jumped up and started to strike as she turned around to face me, I repeatedly punched into her face and I could feel her bones breaking under my fist. "I'm sorry Molly." I said as I reached down, grabbed my stake from its holster and thrust it into her heart in the blink of an eye. As I felt her body relax underneath me, I watched as a single tear fell from her eye and I swear that I saw the hint of a smile pull at her mouth. I felt sorry that I wasn't able to help her as I'd helped Dimitri, but at least I was finally able to free her, she was a genuinely nice girl....before being turned.

I looked up to the car and saw that Christian was no longer with Lissa and the girls, I looked around and saw that my parents were now fighting side by side, and Christian was not far from them, I glared at him before quickly looking back to Liss when she stated speaking to me.

_I told him to go Rose. You and Dimitri are right here and I'd call if you were needed, don't get angry at him... He just saved Tyler's life. _

I glanced back to where Christian was fighting and he and Tyler were working well together as we'd done not all that long ago, Maclean was with them now but a few feet away. Out of nowhere, Robert and Yelena appeared at the van with Lissa. "How... how did...?" I stuttered in confusion. Yelena smiled and tapped her temple with her finger...

"I have my ways. Go Rose, you're needed. We will look after Lissa and the girls." She said confidently.

_It's alright Rose. No Strigoi will see us in this van. There are still things you don't know about me and Yelena. _Said Robert silently and then he smiled and all five Moroi disappeared from my sight. I frantically took a step forward and then they re-appeared. _No harm will come to them, I promise. _Then he waved and they once again hidden from view. I took a deep breath and shook my head in wonder; I didn't think that I'd ever know the full extent of what spirit was capable of. I looked around for Dimitri but before I left I couldn't help but look back to the SUV that carried my best friend, sister and charge.

_Go Rose._.._we're fine. _Even though I couldn't see her, I could feel her through the bond and she was no longer afraid, she was confident. My eyes quickly found Dimitri again and I ran over to where he was fighting. He still looked like he was having fun and even with everything going on, he still took my breath away to see him fight; his speed was mind boggling... We fought side by side; every now and then our backs would come together.... "You look like....you're....having fun my love?" I asked as I fought the strigoi in front of me....

"You have no idea Rose....I've waited a long time for a little bit of payback." he said as he thrust into the chest of the strigoi. He turned to face me as I was still fighting... "Need a hand?" he asked... I couldn't believe he would be joking at a time like this... with that the strigoi in front of me burst into flames. I took the opportunity of his distraction to stake him. I looked over to Dimitri's smiling face and shook my head.

"Come on Hot stuff, more magic wielding opportunities for you over here..." I said motioning to where the others were still fighting. I did a quick check of Liss through the bond and I smiled as she answered me, she could feel when I checked on her now. As we turned we saw a strigoi grab Mia from behind and bite deeply into her neck; her scream got everyone's attention. "No!" I yelled.

Dimitri took off at an incredible speed and got to Mia in a matter of seconds, I ran as fast as I could but I was so much slower than he was. I saw him reef the strigoi's head back off Mia's neck and in one movement, twisted and literally tore his head from his body. From the corner of my eye I could see my parents running to them at the same time as I got to them and I looked down to see Mia lying on the ground bleeding profusely. Dimitri bent down and picked her up, but all I could see or smell was her blood. I didn't get to the clinic before we'd left and the thirst had started to rage while we were driving, I'd planned on getting my 'fix' when I got to my father's house. The scent kicked that thirst into overdrive and I groaned loudly as the desire for it clouded every thought in my head. "Roza....NO!" I heard Dimitri yell as I lunged forward. He spun around putting himself in-between me and Mia and held one hand against my chest while I fought against him. "JANINE!" he yelled. I felt her grab me around my chest as he ran with Mia back to the car that Oksana was in.

The bloodlust was in full swing but as soon as Mia was out of sight...and smelling distance, I calmed down somewhat, it was then that I saw _her_. She stood in amongst the trees, her face was somewhere between confused and angry. She'd built a small army to attack us, thinking that she'd get the best of us, but when she'd left her Moroi life and turned into something evil, the Moroi didn't use their magic defensively, and here was Christian, Tasha, Abe, Mia & Dimitri...all using their powers in combined effort with some of the best guardians around. She looked around at all of the bodies of those she'd made and she knew she'd been defeated, but being an arrogant Strigoi, meant she wouldn't...couldn't let us get away with it. We locked eyes and that's all we needed. I ripped out of my mother's arms and headed towards Sonya.

I was aware that the fighting was still in action behind me and I could hear my mother's voice as I ran; I had no idea what she was saying, but it didn't stop me. While driving here I'd thought about how I would feel seeing Sonya in the flesh after so many years, so to speak. I thought I'd feel fear, especially after what she'd done to me, her psychological torture had been extreme but now that the time had come, fear never entered my mind. A number of things were fuelling me at the moment, adrenaline, bloodlust, darkness and most of all...revenge. When I finally reached her I struck out with pinpoint accuracy. "This ends now." I growled. My fist slammed against her cheek with more power than I think I'd ever produced. I thought I'd felt animalistic before, but _this_ was something else. Sonya never got a punch or a kick anywhere near me. I blocked her every move; I was fast...faster than I'd ever been. I guarded my stomach like it was made of tissue paper; I couldn't believe how aware I was of it as I fought with Sonya. I hadn't been fighting for long before she suddenly burst into flames, I didn't look to see who'd done it, I just took the opportunity given to me and I quickly and precisely pushed my stake up into her heart. In between the flames I saw her mouth open but nothing came out...then as she fell to the ground the flames disappeared. I squatted down beside her to make sure she really was dead now...she'd fooled us before and as far as I could tell, she really was dead this time but I had to make sure. I pulled the stake out of her chest and was about to stab again when a strong hand caught my wrist.

"No Rose... Stand back and I'll make sure she never gets back up." He wanted it to be finalised as much as I did, so I stood up and let him pull me away from her body, then he held his hand out and pushed a ball of flames out to engulf Sonya's body. It didn't move.

_Rose...are you alright? _Asked Liss silently. I didn't know how to answer her. Was I? I was numb; my body was still riding the adrenaline high of the fight and my ever present thirst reminded me of what I'd almost done to Mia and it horrified me. Suddenly I felt like I couldn't breathe...I could feel myself falling apart. The danger to myself and everyone that I loved was over and my body knew it. The adrenaline was now starting to abate and my body shook with its departure. Strong arms wrapped around me as I stared at the burning body of my tormentor.

"Do you want me to make her sleep?" I heard Yelena's voice... I felt....shell shocked I suppose. This fight was intense, probably the most intense fight I'd ever been in. Not even the fight in the cave to get Dimitri back had been this extreme. Only the attack on St Vlad's came close to this....but this time, the only people in danger of getting hurt or killed were my family and friends. If we'd lost here, I'd lose everyone that mattered in my life.

"No, not yet. She needs to calm down."

"Dimitri?"

"Yes my love."

"Is it over?"

"Yes. It's all over and we're all still here in one piece, every single one of us." Of course he'd know my fears...he always knew. I stared into his beautiful brown eyes as my own watered up and blurred my vision. I turned my face into his chest and held on tight as silent tears fell soaking his shirt. His hands rubbed up and down my back soothing me and it wasn't long before my emotions were under control once more.

"How's Mia?" I asked him.

"She's fine, Oksana healed her. Lissa and the girls are perfect; I don't think Andrea and Rozalina even woke up. Do you want to go see them?" He asked me.

I shook my head as spoke... "No need..." I said smiling. _I'll be there soon Sis... _

_Take as long as you need darl. You were amazing Rose, I'm so proud of you. _I could feel her pride in me radiate through the bond. I looked around to the scene that was behind me and couldn't believe we all lived through it. Strigoi bodies laid everywhere by the road side. The guardians were already dragging them into the trees to hide them in case anyone drove past, but that was unlikely this far out in the middle of nowhere. Someone had called for help and more guardians had arrived, from my father's house I later found out.

"Are you and our grandchild okay?" asked my mother. My father stood beside her and the both carried worried, but proud looks on their faces.

"We're good. Thanks for asking." I said to them. I looked to my left and saw Yelena looking at me. "Are _you_ alright?" I asked her.

"I'm fine Rose. I may not be able to throw a punch, but there are a lot of things I can throw." I looked at her confused, so she smiled and held up her hands, palm facing to the sky. I looked around and saw several small rocks hovering about five feet above the ground. She tilted her head and one by one those rocks flew towards a tree that was about 10 inches in diameter and they were flung with such force, they punched their way through. We all stood there staring at the hole in shock and then we all looked back to a glowing Yelena....

"You've been holding out on us." Dimitri said with pride in his voice.

"Maybe a little." She said as she tried to stifle a laugh.

"What else don't we know?" I asked her.

"You'll find out. There are things that need to be revealed when the time is right."

"And what's wrong with telling me _now_?"

"Because _now_...is _not_ the right time." She said simply. I was about to argue when Guardian Bishop came up to us.

"Guardians Hathaway, Guardian Belikov... The Alchemists will be here shortly and a group of us will be staying here until they arrive. The other cars are ready to leave when you are." He said. Then he gave a quick nod to both Yelena and my father and then walked back to continue with the clean up. Seeing that I was going to continue my nagging about being told her secrets, Yelena just shook her head and smiled.

"We will tell you, we promise. Now is just not the right time." Dimitri's arm came around me and I felt him kiss the top of my head.

"Patience maya krasaveetsa." Dimitri whispered to me. I knew I was fighting a losing battle, so I turned to my father instead.

"Dad...can you call the doctor to come to your place with some blood?"

"We already did Kiz. I've sent my helicopter to Court to get him and he should be at the house in just over an hour."

"You have a helicopter?" I said shaking my head. He just laughed and walked back to the cars with Yelena and his arm around my mother's shoulder.

"Are you sure you're alright Rose? The baby? Don't say 'fine' unless you really are." Dimitri asked concerned.

"I really am fine and our little angel didn't get touched once. But I'll get the doc to check me over when he gets here if you'd like."

"That would make me feel better...yes."

"You were amazing. I could hardly take my eyes off you. I got a little distracted there for a minute and then I...." I looked over to where Molly's body was still lying. "Did you see?" I asked him as I kept my eyes on her.

"See what?"

"Molly." We walked over to her body, her face still showed the tear trail from the corner of her eye. "At least she's free now." I said quietly. Dimitri didn't say anything and I knew that seeing her now would stir up a lot of memories of his own of that fateful day. Just then Guardian Campbell walked over to us. "Take care of her." I said to him. He glanced down to Molly's body and then back to me, realising that we knew her. He nodded and bent down to pick her up rather than dragging her off to the trees. We turned back towards the cars and I saw mom waving at us to get in, so we jogged the short distance and got in with them and Liss, Christian and the girls.

"Who was that?" asked Liss.

"Molly." I said. She let out a small gasp and I saw her memories of that day flash through her mine, although they were different to the ones I experienced, that feeling of loss I felt through the bond, still took me somewhere I didn't want to ever go again. Again Dimitri squeezed me in comfort knowing what was going on in my head. "Are you alright Christian?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm good Rose, tired but good." He said yawning.

"We'll feed once we get home," My father said. "Then you're energy will come back. You did really good out there Christian, it was honour to fight beside you." Christian took the compliment in a composed manner, but I knew that he'd be almost jumping out of his skin with pride. There weren't too many people who had ever complimented him in his life and for someone like my father to give it, well...that would have meant a lot to Christian.

_Well he's going to wear that compliment like a badge of honour... _Liss said through the bond.

_Yeah, we'll never hear the end of it._..

We drove the rest of the way to my father's house in relative silence. I rested against Dimitri and I put his hand on my stomach as our baby started showing its own fighting skills; I love the look on Dimitri's face when he feels our baby move, it never gets old for him. I know it's weird considering what we'd just gone through but I was actually looking forward to finding out my mother's big secret, although I had a sneaking suspicion what it probably was. I looked over to her and saw her looking at my father in 'that' way... She must have felt me looking at her because she turned straight to me and winked. My mother winked...


	49. My Life's Never Easy

**I know that some people thought the last chapter was the last... but it wasn't... There are a few more yet.  
I thought after the intesity of the last chapter, a little bit of fun was needed... I hope you all enjoy it!  
Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed the last Chapter. You guys are awesome!**

**Sandy**

* * *

**Chapter Forty Nine**

My Life's Never Easy...

"Are you alright Rose?" Liss asked when I got into the car. I knew that she was referring to the thirst.

"Sort of."

_Do you want me to send you to sleep?_

_No. Thanks anyway, I have to learn how to deal with it._

_Yeah... Hey, I'd like to try something. If using compulsion to put you to sleep works, then maybe I can make you feel different._

"What do you mean?" I asked her.

"Come here." I turned around so that I could face her in the seat behind us. She held out her hand and touched a finger to my forehead and smiled. I could feel the familiar feeling of hot and cold come through the bond and then the thirst slowly started to fade and as it did so, it was replaced by a deep feeling of love and happiness. I must have had a funny look on my face as she explained. "I figured I'd replace the thirst with love, after all it's your only non-lethal attribute." The others in the car thought that was funny, but I didn't care at the moment.

"I wouldn't say that Liss," said Christian. "I've seen Dimitri with a few bruises after....well you know..." Lissa's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets and she gave him a quick slap on his arm. I actually agreed with him, my love for Dimitri may not be 'lethal' exactly, but it could certainly get rough.

"_Christian_... That's _so_ not funny..." she said to him. She turned back to me and continued. "Rose, you may find that the more the thirst increases, so will the feeling of love."

"Thanks Liss." I smiled and turned back around and locked eyes with Dimitri. _Big_ mistake. An overwhelming feeling of love brought on by compulsion swimming around in my head was not conducive to one's self control. Belly notwithstanding, I flung myself at him, wrapping my arms around his neck and then pushed against him as I kissed him with all the love I had in me...which at this point in time was bubbling away like a witch's cauldron sitting on a bonfire. If the thirst was bad enough to make me try and attack Mia, you could imagine what the same intensity of love would be doing to me... At first he didn't know what hit him, but it didn't take long for him to get into it.

"OH! That's _so _not what I need to see...." said Christian. "Make them _stop_ Liss... There are kids in the car." The next thing I knew, I was waking up in a huge bed in an unfamiliar room. I looked around to see Dimitri standing at the large window with his hands behind his back.

"Hey Hot stuff." I said sleepily. He turned to face me with a sexy grin. "I'm gathering Liss had to make me sleep?" That comment made his grin turn into a full on, face encompassing smile. He walked over to me with one eyebrow lifted...

"Yeah, you were scaring the children." I smiled as I held out my arms to him and he gladly filled them. "The doctor gave you some blood while you were out to it." I was wondering why I felt so good. "He also said that he wants you to go down for a quick exam when you wake up, just to make sure that everything is fine with the baby."

"Okay. She's really gone, isn't she?"

"Yes." He said stroking my cheek. "She's gone. For the first time in a long time, you can breathe easy and enjoy the remainder of your pregnancy."

"Mmm, that'll be a welcomed change." I gave him a quick kiss and then we got up to go see the doctor.

* * *

"Hello Guardian Belikova." Said Dr Walsh.

"Hi, and it's Rose remember." He smiled and then nodded.

"How are you feeling now?" he asked.

"Good actually.... hungry, but good." That got a giggle from both Dimitri and the Doc.

"Just pop up on the bed and I'll have a feel of your tummy." I did what he asked and after he checked everything out, he pulled over an ultrasound machine. "Just a precaution..." he said seeing my concern. I flinched slightly as the cold gel touched my skin and then Dimitri and I smiled like fools as we watched the image of our baby on the screen. I looked up at Dimitri and had to do a double take as I saw his watery eyes. "You don't want to know what the sex is, do you Rose?" I scrunched my forehead as I thought about that for a sec... I really did want to know, but I only had a couple of weeks to go. I looked back to Dimitri who had a small smile on his lips.

"No... I'll wait." I said.

"Okay, well everything seems to be fine with your child. But I am ordering you to take it easy while you're here alright. No training, no lifting, no strenuous exertion." I lifted my eyebrows and looked at Dimitri who was trying to hold in a snicker; he knew what I was thinking.... "I'm staying here now until you go back to court, so if you need anything at anytime of the day or night, just use this." He said handing me a pager.

"Okay, thanks Doc." I said. Then we left to go find everyone else and found them all outside in the courtyard. "Hey everyone." I said.

_How are you feeling? _Liss asked privately.

_I'm good._ _Thank you for knocking me out... Things could have got a little embarrassing._ Everyone looked at her when she started giggling and then realised we were talking.

"Got that...._loooove_....reigned in Buffy?" Christian asked.

"Only just Sparky... I wouldn't push it though; I might lose control again and show you _just_ how much I loooove you." I smirked evilly. That got a few giggles from everyone, Christian just shook his head. "So Mom, when do we find out what this little shindig is all about?" Her eyebrows lifted, (finally someone who couldn't do just one.) and put on an almost convincing confused look onto her face.

"What do you mean Rose? It's just a get together."

"Ah-huh." I said looking at my father tapping my chin in a diabolical manner. "So daddy dearest... what's it all about?" He didn't have years of experience at holding a guardian mask so I saw the fleeting excitement cross his face before he pulled his own stoic mask on. "Ahhhhh! You're not as good as _mother_ here with the 'unrevealing face'... I saw that. And you know that I'm not going to give up until you tell me."

"I don't know what you mean Kiz, as your mother said... it's just a...."

"A get together." I interrupted. "Yeah... so you both say. So when does this 'get together' start?" My mother stood up and came over to me and held out a hand to me. I took it and she pulled me up into her arms. I was a little stiff at first, but then I relaxed a bit and returned the hug.

"I'm so glad that you're alright, you and my grandbaby." She said into my hair. Shows of affection were very rare for my mother, let alone in public. I scrunched up my forehead as I fought the tears that prickled at my eyes. For many long and lonely years I craved my mother's love, whenever I hurt either physically or emotionally as a kid I wondered what it would feel like to have her hold me like this and tell me everything would be okay, it almost felt too good to be true to have it happen now. We pulled back and she wiped a tear that I didn't know had escaped. "I know I have been a terrible mother to you, but if you only believe one thing from me, believe that I've always loved you, every day."

"Thank you." I said. It came out so softly I didn't know if she'd heard me.

"Come with me." She said with a smile. I looked to Dimitri and quickly raised my eyebrows in question as she led me into the house. We walked in silence up to my parent's suite and she led me over to one of the sofas by the huge floor to ceiling window. "Rose, I know that you know what's going on." I put on a fact innocent look but she shook her head and continued. "Your father asked me to marry him, but I want to ask you how you feel about that." I was rendered momentarily speechless.

"You're asking me for my blessing?" I asked incredulously.

"I suppose I am."

"Why? When has what I've thought ever been issue?" I didn't say it to be nasty, it was the truth. My mother had always done what she thought was best, no matter if it hurt anyone (namely me) or not.

"I've only ever done what I thought was best." I laughed silently to myself... I knew her soooo well. "My decisions haven't always worked out right, but at the time.... well, you're an adult now, married and about to become a mother yourself, and I realise that what I lost, what we _both_ lost when I wasn't around can never be changed. But I _can_ try to be there for you now. I respect you Rose, your opinion matters to me and I really would like to know what you think about your father's proposal." Speechless again.....

"Umm... Do you love him..._really_ love him?" She smiled and nodded to me. "Then I think if he makes you happy, then you should grab him with both hands and _never_ let him go, and _never_ let anyone tell you that it's wrong." She smiled and nodded her head in understanding.

"One of my regrets is that I can't take responsibility for the amazing person you've turned out to be."

"Mom... all these compliments are starting to freak me out. Quit it!" She laughed and stood up and then dragged me over to the door, our 'mother/daughter' bonding now obviously over.

The rest of that day and all through the night my father's staff and Lissa, of course, decorated the house for the 'get together'. The others hadn't been told what was going on, that was to be a surprise and apparently there were going to be more people arriving in the morning for the celebration.

"Liss?" I asked. "You know how you did that compulsion thing in the car?

"Yeah..."

"Did you take it off?"

"Ah, no...Why?"

"I think I need some blood..." Her forehead creased as she tried to hold in a laugh. Just then you-know-who walked in and as soon as I smelt his aftershave...my eyes narrowed in lust and his widened in surprise.

"What's going on?" He asked as I walked towards him with one thing on my mind.

"Ah, I think she needs more blood." Liss said from behind me. A huge grin spread across his face as he realised what she meant.

"Oh, okay. Come on Roza; let's deal with this before it gets too bad." He wrapped his arm around my waist and started to lead me out of the formal living room.

"Mmm, I have an itch..." I whispered. "Wanna scratch it?" I was rewarded with one of his beautiful laughs that only made my 'itch' itchier....

"After you get your blood my love." I pouted which made him laugh more. I stood in front of him making him stop.

"I could always get my blood...a little later." I said suggestively. He didn't answer straight away, obviously thinking about my offer. I leant forward pressing my body against his and reached up on my tippy toes to whisper in his ear. "I'm not thirsty, I won't bite...much." Then I licked the edge of his ear. He let out a soft throaty growl and I knew I'd won. I smiled and then turned to run back up to our room.

The next morning I woke up feeling a little off. Being with my own personal God whilst in the grip of... thirst/compulsive love... or whatever it was, was....intense to say the least. Well it was for me, Dimitri on the other hand was his normal gentle self. I was downstairs with my mother greeting some people who'd come in from Europe for the 'get together' as it was now called. I made a point of exaggerating those two words every time I said them, and the glare I got from my mother kept getting funnier and funnier every time. I knew she wouldn't do anything to me, especially pregnant...so I had a bit of fun at her expense, I just had to....right? Dimitri soon walked in with my father and as soon as I locked eyes with him, memories of last night replayed in my head.

"Hello maya krasaveetsa." He murmured in my ear as he wrapped me in his arms. Liss had taken the compulsion away this morning but memories could never be taken away and that feeling of intense love still flowed through my veins. I wrapped my arms around his body and squeezed, but I forgot about his 'injuries' from last night and he winced slightly.

"What's wrong with you?" asked my father when he saw Dimitri's reaction. I looked up into his eyes smiling...daring him to tell the truth to my father. I should have known better....

"Ask your daughter, she's the one who likes to play rough." My face instantly reddened as peals of laughter emanated around the room. I was suddenly aware that the room was full of people. I looked up at him and growled, my fists balled up and I strode out of the room. I couldn't believe he would do that... It was bad enough that he'd said that in front of my parents, but in front of all the people who'd just arrived... Now they'd just be looking at me like some cheap blood whore, confirming what they probably already thought about all female Dhampirs.

"Rose..." Dimitri called from behind me.

"Go away."

"Roza." Suddenly he was in front of me...damned Strigoi speed. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to upset you."

"You just confirmed what they already think of Dhampirs. We're nothing but..." I couldn't keep going. I didn't know why I was feeling so mad, I could feel myself starting to shake and Dimitri noticed it too.

"Is Liss using spirit?" he asked me. I quickly slipped into her mind and sure enough she was, but not in the normal way... She was 'with' Christian and somehow she was transferring spirit into him at the same time. It really wasn't a good idea to slip into her mind at that point in time...with both of us experiencing extreme feeling right now....we swapped. I suddenly realised where I was, what I was doing and who I was doing it with!

"OH GOD!" I struck Christian in the chest out of reflex and he went flying across the room and slammed into the wall. I jumped up off the bed, pulling the sheets with me and ran to Lissa's bathroom. My heart...Lissa's heart, was thumping against my/her chest, my thoughts were erratic to say the least and I was hyperventilating... black spots started dancing in front of my eyes. Then there was nothing.

* * *

Lissa's Point Of View.

"What...? Dimitri?" What in the _hell _was going on? Why am I looking at Dimitri?

"Rose?" he asked cautiously.

"What? I'm Lissa." His mouth dropped open and he quick looked up. I followed his line of sight and saw I was downstairs, then I became aware of a familiar feeling of something moving in my stomach and looked down to see a _pregnant belly! _"What in the hell?" I yelled.

"Oh Shit!" Dimitri said as we heard an almighty crashing sound upstairs. Then he took off at his top speed and without thinking I started running too, but I ran a LOT faster than I'd ever ran before in my life. I saw Dimitri push through my bedroom door like it was made of paper and I quickly followed. I almost fell on my ass as I slammed into Dimitri who was standing just inside the doorway looking around the room. To my left I could see Christian lying naked on the floor, unconscious....

"What in the hell?" I whispered to myself as I strode over to him.

"Roza? Where are you?" Dimitri called out. I placed my hand onto Christian's forehead... _That's not my hand! _

"SHIT!" I looked up to Dimitri and then grabbed at my hair... _BROWN! _"Oh, CRAP!" Just then we head a slight bang in my bathroom, Dimitri was there in the blink of an eye.

"Rose..." He pushed against the door slightly and then I realised that he had to push against it to open it. He slid in through the opening and moments later he came out carrying...me! Now that was an odd sensation.... He looked over to me and then put me...her down on the bed. Just then Christian moaned as he started to wake up.

"Rose?" He mumbled...

"Not exactly..." I whispered feeling a little embarrassed. He looked confused and then he sat up and saw Dimitri sitting on the bed with me...in his arms.

"_Belikov_! What in the hell's going on?"

"Christian..." I said quietly. "It's me... That's Rose." If the situation wasn't so.... complicated, I would have laughed at Christian's expression. First was confusion, then realisation, then shock, horror, then anger.... and all this in like three seconds.

"No..." he whispered. Just then Rose started to stir.

"Dimitri..." she said in a confused whisper. "I had the worst dream...." I couldn't see what his face was like but it must have said volumes as she stopped talking and then looked up directly into my...her face. "Oh _Shit_... it was real? Oh for _fucks_ sake...." I couldn't help the snort of laughter that escaped my mouth... and I looked around to see the glares of the three other people in the room.

"Sorry..." I said as I shrugged my shoulders. "Well...this is interesting."


	50. A Whole Bundle Of Love

**Okay... At long last I've got the next chapter up! It's another big one, and a lot happens so I hope you all enjoy it.  
This isn't the last chapter, one more to go... :-( Sad hey.... But it will all finish up, so if you have any  
questions about any of the story, I will make sure that they're all answered.**

**Thanks guys, you're great!**

**Sandy**

* * *

**Chapter Fifty**

A Whole Bundle Of Love

"Interesting.... interesting Liss? YA THINK!" Christian growled, he looked furious. I looked up to Dimitri and...Rose...and then back to Christian. "This is BULL SHIT Liss...." I winced at his tone, but I could see his point. I quickly got up and grabbed a cushion from the sofa and brought it back to cover Christian's...modesty.

"I'm sorry." I said. "I didn't mean for this to happen." He glared at me and then over to...me...Rose... _Ah! _

"Will you please just...change back? I can't look at you like...this." I knew he didn't mean that in a bad way. I nodded and got up to walk over to Dimitri and 'us'.

"Huh! Us..." I mumbled to myself.

_What? _Rose asked through the bond.

_Nothing Rose, just mumbling to myself...don't worry about it. So how did we change back last time?_

_Like we normally do, just think about going back to yourself. _I nodded and closed my eyes. When I opened them, I was looking at Dimitri's worried face and Rose's angry face... She put her hand on Dimitri's shoulder and then he looked over his shoulder to her and realised we'd changed back.

"Are you alright Lissa?" He asked me.

"Yes, thanks." He nodded and let me go and then took Rose in his arms. I looked over to my fuming husband who was sitting on the sofa and then I told Rose that I'd come talk to her in a minute and then said goodbye to them. Now the hard part....

* * *

Rose's Point of View

I stood at our bedroom window and looked out at the gardens. Even though it was night time, the gardens were dotted with lights and it looked like a fairytale. I remember running around with Lissa when we were little playing hide and seek in the small maze that was in the distance, we'd pick flowers from the Rose and Daisy bushes and bring them in for Lissa's mum when we visited Victor. He used to glare at us when we did that because he didn't want the flowers picked, I suppose that's why I did it... I closed my eyes as Dimitri put his arms around my waist from behind.

"Can I help?" he asked tenderly. I shook my head and fought to keep my self control. I was NOT going to cry... I was sick and tired of crying all the time. I was tougher than this, Rose Hathaway NEVER cries, EVER! He didn't say anymore, he just held me. Even though I knew I'd done nothing wrong, I couldn't help but feel like I had. Physically it was Lissa's body, but the rest...it was all me. Dimitri grabbed my shoulders and tried to turn me around to face him but I couldn't look at him right now.

"Please Dimitri, don't."

"You did nothing wrong Roza. Please look at me." He said gently. I let him turn me around but I kept my eyes closed. "Open your eyes maya krasaveetsa; you have nothing to be ashamed of." The instant my eyes opened, silent tears fell and he wiped them away.

"I know, but until now... I've only ever been with you, I know that was Lissa's body, but it was me in there. I don't want to remember this..." I whispered into his chest.

"I'm so sorry Rose." Liss said from the doorway. I didn't need to be looking into her eyes to see how much she meant that, I could feel through the bond, but it still didn't help what I was feeling right now... When we'd changed bodies, I was _with _Christian...really _with _him, body, mind and soul.... We all knew that I didn't, but the feeling that I'd somehow betrayed Dimitri weighed heavy on me.

"I know Liss. Can we just not speak of this again?" She looked at me with so much guilt and nodded. She knew this happened because she was using spirit while doing....that. A double whammy sent my way, and in my fluctuating emotional state...it was just too much for me to stop.

"I can make you forget." She said simply. I looked at her and saw her tears fall onto her cheeks. "You put up with so much from me, the darkness, labour pains; being sucked into my head....and now my body, it's not fair; it never has been. You did nothing wrong, you shouldn't have deal with this too." I thought about it for a minute...could I ever look at Christian again without that memory coming up? For it to work, everyone would have to forget and that would take a _lot_ of spirit that I couldn't afford to take on. Liss must have read my thoughts. _Not me... I'll ask Robert and Yelena, they can take it away. _I nodded.

_Robert, can you hear me? _I called out. He could hear my thoughts because he was so much stronger than Liss, Adrian or Oksana in his spirit ability... Yelena probably came the closest, but we were still finding out just how strong she actually was.

_Already on my way Rose. _I looked up to Dimitri who was looking at me a little confused, but before I could tell him what was going on, Robert and Yelena were at our suite door standing next to Liss.

"Could someone please tell me what on earth is going on?" Dimitri asked.

"They're going to make us all forget; I don't want to remember something that didn't physically happen to me, I don't want to look at Christian and see...that every time."

"I understand." He looked up and nodded to Robert and Yelena. "So what now?" Yelena walked up to me and looked into my eyes as she tilted her head and I felt the tickle in my head as she saw my memory where it started down stairs with my parents...where the darkness first started to take hold. Then she looked at Dimitri and saw his version of events, then Lissa; _she_ looked rather embarrassed though.

"I have to see Christian and then your parents. I need to see the events from all angles so that we...don't miss anything." Just then they walked out with Liss. Dimitri and I just stood there in each other's arms and it wasn't long before they were back with my parents.

"Okay," Robert started... "We've seen everything and we've thought up a replacement memory. We'll plant it deep so that it will be permanent, you won't remember anything, I promise." He said looking at me.

"Thanks." I said.

"There's one problem though Rose." Yelena said. "You both need to remember the lesson here. You can't afford for this to happen when you're fighting. Lissa was calm in the fight with Sonya because we were there and she knew she was safe. It won't always be that way and if she tries to 'help' you when you're fighting and you switch...you'll both end up dead. So...we need to keep some details..." I cringed at the thought of what I would remember. "Okay... here we go...."

* * *

_A little while later......_

"What's wrong with you?" asked my father when he saw Dimitri's reaction. I looked up into his eyes smiling...daring him to tell the truth to my father. I should have known better....

"Ask your daughter, she's the one who likes to play rough." My face instantly reddened as peals of laughter emanated around the room. I was suddenly aware that the room was full of people. I looked up at him and growled, my fists balled up and I strode out of the room. I couldn't believe he would do that... It was bad enough that he'd said that in front of my parents, but in front of all the people who'd just arrived... Now they'd just be looking at me like some cheap blood whore, confirming what they probably already thought about all female Dhampirs.

"Rose..." Dimitri called from behind me.

"Go away."

"Roza." Suddenly he was in front of me...damned Strigoi speed. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to upset you."

"You just confirmed what they already think of Dhampirs. We're nothing but..." I couldn't keep going. I didn't know why I was feeling so mad, I could feel myself starting to shake and Dimitri noticed it too.

"Is Liss using spirit?" he asked me. I quickly slipped into her mind and sure enough she was, but not in the normal way... She was making out Christian...again...and somehow she was transferring spirit into him at the same time. It really wasn't a good idea to slip into her mind at that point in time...with both of us experiencing extreme feeling right now....So I quickly screamed at her....

_LISSA! What on earth are you doing?_

_Rose? Oh no....sorry. I got carried away._

_No shit Sherlock! What if I'd...got pulled in after you'd got to the next step? Liss...come on, you know I can't block you like I used to with these bloody pregnancy hormones in high gear..._

_I'm sorry Rose. Forgive me?_

_Only if you don't do it again._

_I Promise Rose!_

I slipped back into my head and glared at Dimitri. "I can't believe you said that."

"I'm sorry." That only made things worse... First Liss, '_I'm sorry Rose...' _then Dimitri, '_I'm sorry Rose...' _I was sick of people saying sorry. Why couldn't they just think first, then they wouldn't have to be sorry! Just then I saw Yelena and Robert walk towards us. "Hi guys." I said in greeting.

"Hello Rosemarie. Dimitri." Said Robert. He leant forward to me and whispered, although I don't know why, he knows Dimitri can hear everything anyway... "Don't worry; everyone who laughed now only remembers a funny joke." He blinked and I suddenly felt a lot better.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome my dear. You better get ready; your mother's 'get together' starts in hour." Mmm.... how could I forget? They walked away but when they looked back to us I could tell something was up with him...I was always able to feel when he'd been doing his 'thing'... whatever it was he did. I would have to find out what he was up to.

"Come on my love." Dimitri said as he scooped me up in his arms. "I got you a surprise." I tried not to smile because I was still a little cranky with him, but I just love surprises...especially his, so I tried to hide it by resting my head against his chest as he ran to our room. Just over an hour later I walked out of our room thanks to my loving husband. His constant time updates every five minutes had been annoying but at least I was only about ten minutes late... We walked downstairs and I saw my parents at the front door greeting more guests, my father looked up to me and a huge smile spread across his face. He excused himself and came over to me.

"Kiz, you look amazing." He kissed my cheek and took us over to my mother. Dimitri's surprise was this stunning dress I was wearing. It was a stunning, blood red strapless floor length gown that fell around my curves in all the right places. The bust line was ruched together and then fell down the middle of my small belly **(pic in profile). **Liss had come in and pulled my hair up into a messy bun that fell down my back. Mom and Dad introduced us to all of their guests and then we were led into the grand ballroom. It took my breath away... massive chandeliers hung from the ceiling over ornately decorated tables, table centrepieces arranged in white and pale lavender roses, the finest Gold and bone cutlery laid out for something a little more than a 'get together'. I looked to my parents and smiled.

"Rose," my mother said seriously. "Would you stand up for me, would you be my matron of honour?"

"I'd love to mom." I said with all my heart. At the front of the ball room, an alter had been erected and once everyone had been seated, the wedding took place. My father looked so proud to finally have my mother say that she loved him out loud and in front of everyone who knew him. I could see that he never stopped loving her and I was truly happy for both of them. I glanced around at the tables and saw Adrian and Vikki holding hands and just staring at each other throughout the vows, Adrian had finally found his own love. Our world was changing that's for sure. After the ceremony my parents, Dimitri and I went over to sit at our table and for the next few hours 300 of some of the richest and most powerful (and scary looking) Moroi feasted on foods from all around the world. I was in heaven! As the night wore on and food had been devoured, Dimitri took me out to the dance floor and romanced me for all he was worth...not that he needed any help in that department, but hey...I'll take whatever he gave me. As the sun started to make an appearance, more and more Moroi retired to their rooms or to nearby hotels. Everyone congratulated my parents on their beautiful wedding and wished them all the best.

"Thank you Rose, after everything we've been through, you didn't have to stand up for me."

"That's all in the past mother, it can't be changed, but I love you and it was my honour." Just then I clenched my arms around my stomach in pain... Oh...I knew this pain... "Oh.._Shit_!"

"_Rose?_" Yelled my mother as she grabbed for me.

"Roza!" I looked up at Dimitri and grimaced in pain.

"Looks like....bubs wants to come...a little early. _AAHHH_!" He once again scooped me up and headed to the room that I had the scan done in after the attack. My always thinking husband pulled out the pager that Dr Walsh had given me from his pocket and pressed the button. Within seconds Dimitri's phone rang and he was telling the doctor what happened and where we were heading, apparently he was in the next room and would meet us there. I moaned and grimaced the whole way there and as much as Dimitri didn't like seeing me in pain, he couldn't hide his excitement.

"It will all be okay my love, I will be with you every step of the way."

"Oh _really_? Ya think! Like you would be....anywhere else. It's all fun and games getting it in there, not so much fun coming out! _OH_... _bloody_ _hell_!" We finally got to the room where Dr Walsh was waiting in his white coat.

"Hi Rose, impatient baby hey?" He said with a smile... I hated people smiling at me when I was in pain...

"Doc... if we're all going to get through this...." I grimaced as another pain hit. "Unscathed... then _don't_ smile... _don't_ laugh and _don't_ piss me off!" He looked at Dimitri who shrugged his shoulders and then back at me with a nod.

"Okay then, put her on the bed, I'll have to do an exam to see what's going on, I'm sorry Rose, but it has to be done." I nodded but was _NOT_ looking forward to it. I think he was worried what I was going to do to him. Dimitri quickly helped to change me into a gown more suited to giving birth in and then the exam took place. It seemed that I was an inch dilated... three to go.... Woo Hoo apparently....

"What are _you_ smiling for?" I said through clenched teeth. Dimitri looked like he had just won Best Pig at the local county fair.

"I'm just really, really happy at the moment." Honestly...I wanted to be nice, but I just couldn't be right now, I just glared at him. "Don't be like that Roza; just think...soon, you'll be holding our baby." I was about to say smile and say sorry when another pain hit.

"Oh, _holy shit_...." I gritted my teeth and breathed through the contraction. "You know, I wasn't kidding when I warned the doctor about not smiling. That went for you too."

"I love you."

"Don't try to butter me up buster; you're not the one who has to push it out."

"I would if I could my love."

"Shut up." He smiled again. "Stop smiling Dimitri... I'm warning you." He scrunched his face up and pouted his lips...

"Is this better?" Oh! He didn't seriously say that. I punched his arm hard, not that it would have hurt him, but before I could say or do anything else my mother's head poked into the room.

"Can I come in Rose?" I nodded. "How are you going?"

"Oh you know... just peachy." I said sarcastically.

"But there's to be no smiling..." said Dimitri as he lifted one eyebrow.

"I can understand that." Mom said.... FINALLY! We agree on something. "I actually _did_ punch my doctor when Rose was born; knocked him out. Then they had to go find another one who was willing to take his place." I was about to laugh but yet another friggin contraction hit and I gripped the bed with one hand and Dimitri's hand with the other. Good thing he was almost indestructible now because I think I would have broken all the bones in his hand otherwise, I couldn't help but scream and that's when my waters broke.

"Oh..that's gross..." I said. Dr Walsh appeared almost out of thin air and my mother took her place on the other side of me to Dimitri.

"Okay, well...that should speed things up a bit." The Dr said.

"This hurts more than before!" I yelled in between pants to the Doctor. I was referring to when Liss went into labour. "Something's wrong..."

"No Rose, everything is fine. You were able to block Lissa's pain by the time she'd got to this point, and plus...this time it really is your body going through it."

"So it only gets _worse!_" I yelled in horror. Something in my face must have been funny as all three started laughing, but then something else must have swept across my face as they all stopped within the blink of an eye. "Can't you just cut it out? Oh for shiii....." I stopped talking and clenched my eyes as pain raked through me again.

"Breathe Rose." Said the Doctor.

"I don't want to do this anymore...." I growled. By the clock on the wall, I'd been going for nearly two hours and even though I wasn't exactly tired... I hated to be in pain, I _really _hated it. I just wanted it over with.

"Maya krasaveetsa, you can do this..." His eyes held mine with such determination. "You're strong as is our child." The contractions were coming thick and fast now and I couldn't help but think how well I was keeping my self control in check. After all, I'd only hit him once during this whole time, not bad going considering.

"Dimitri... Don't." I didn't want to take it out on him but I knew he could take it and I knew he wouldn't hold it against me. I got another contraction but this time I couldn't help but push at the same time... The urge was overpowering.

"Okay Rose. You're fully dilated now. Push...." I just glared at him...

"Oh _REALLY_...." I growled again... "Thanks for telling me... AAHHH shit, shit, shit..." I pushed over and over and over and I could feel the burning as the baby crowned.

"No Rose... Don't stop, keep going... one more push and the head will be out." I pushed again, but holding your breath for long periods of time really tires you out fast. "One more push Rose..." I just glared at him... One more push my ass! I'd heard all this before... I should have warned him about that too, no smiling, no laughing, no 'one more friggin push'.... "Come on Rose, you can do it."

"Come on Rose...you're so close." Said my mother. What is this?... a friggin football game! I closed my eyes and gave one more push and then felt the burning continued....

"The head's out Rose, keep going." Someone said... I don't know who said it; I think it was the doctor. Through the puffs and pants and the sound of blood rushing in my ears...I really don't know how I heard him. I kept pushing and clenching the hands that were in mine. This was seriously the worst pain I think I'd ever been in... Worse than broken ribs, worse than a cracked skull, worse than.... well just plain friggin worse! "One more..."

"Don't say it!" I said panting after my last push... I was quickly in the grip of yet another pushing urge but this time, I'm glad to say resulted in a positive outcome. The feeling of my child leaving my body was one of mixed feelings... relief that it was finally over and worry that he or she would be alright.

"Why can't I hear crying? Is everything alright?" Just then I heard the most wonderful sound; my baby let out the loudest cry and tears flowed down my cheeks.

"You want to cut the cord Dimitri?" he asked. Dimitri nodded with wide, tear filled eyes as he walked to the bottom of the bed and was handed surgical scissors. I laid my head back against the bed and my mother put her hand on my cheek.

"I'm so proud of you. You did...so well Rose." Dimitri came back and put his hands on either side of my face...

"My love... would you like meet your son?" I laughed through my tears of joy as Dimitri put my little boy onto my chest.

"Hello my darling. I've waited so long to meet you." I kissed his forehead and cried at the same time that Dimitri leant forward and kissed my forehead; I looked up to see more love in his eyes than I think I've ever seen before.

"Thank you Roza. You have given me the most precious gift I could have ever asked for. I love you with every fibre of my being." Then he kissed my lips softly and then he kissed his son.

"Do you have a name yet Rose?" Asked my mother, she was standing beside me with tears in her eyes.

"Yes we do. Say hello to Aleksandr Maksim Belikov."

"What do those names mean?" she asked.

"Both are Russian names, Aleksandr means 'Defender of Men' and Maksim means 'The Greatest'. Seems fitting." Dimitri said with pride.


	51. Dream Secrets Revealed

**Hi Everyone. Well here's the next chapter... I thought that there would only be one more Chapter, but I think there might be another  
after this one... Things need to be wrapped up and you know me.... Can't say things quickly!!! hehehe  
Anyway, I hope that this chapter answers some of your questions, but there will be a bit more to the story... :-)**

**Thanks again to you all for your wonderful reviews... You guys are the greatest! I haven't had time to answer you all,  
but know that I do read each and every one of them.**

* * *

**Chapter Fifty One**

Dream Secrets Revealed

Lissa's Point of View

It had been a beautiful wedding. So much had happened in the last year and a half and it made me so happy to see that Rose and her mother had finally come together. Rose had lived her whole life without a real mother, even though my parents loved her as their own...they weren't _her _mother and I knew that was a huge missing part of her heart. The change that occurred in her when she fell in love with Dimitri was beyond description but the closer she got to her mother, the more complete she became. Everyone had more or less gone now after the wedding and we were all heading up to our rooms. Adrian was being held up by Vikki, he celebrated _a lot_, more than I'd seen him 'celebrate' for a while. I was talking to Vikki when Abe and Janine came up to us.

"Thank you Rose, after everything we've been through, you didn't have to stand up for me."

"That's all in the past mom, it can't be changed, but do I love you and it was my honour." I smiled as I saw her aura, a lot of the shadows that normally surrounded Rose were gone, she was in such a great place right now; she just glowed. Then all of a sudden she wrapped her arms around her belly and gasped. It was so quick I wasn't sure...but it felt like I was quickly pulled into her mind. _Weird! _"Oh..._Shit_!" She yelled.

"_Rose?_" Janine and I yelled at the same time.

"Roza!" Rose looked up to Dimitri and grimaced in pain at the same time we all reached out to grab her.

"Looks like....bubs wants to come...a little early. _AAHHH_!" In an instant I was sucked into her head again... _Oh HELL... _I remember this pain! Karma's a bitch alright... but I suppose I deserve this... I was aware when Dimitri scooped me...Rose up into his arms, but I went along for the ride. I could feel him mucking around with something in one of his hands and then his phone rang... the doctor... good thinking. _Now how in the hell am I going to get out of here? _I tried really hard to pull myself out, but I didn't have much experience trying to get out of Rose when she was in this sort of pain. In the grand scheme of things, I'd only been able to go to her fairly recently and I hadn't had to deal with anything like this. Each time I'd get close to getting out... another pain would hit anchoring me in her mind.

"It will all be okay my love, I will be with you every step of the way." Dimitri said to her.

"Oh _really_? Ya think! Like you would be....anywhere else. It's all fun and games getting it in there, not so much fun coming out! _OH_... _bloody_ _hell_!" She yelled and again I was in the grip of labour. Finally the pain subsided enough and I was able to come back to myself. I opened my eyes and found I was looking into those beautiful blue eyes that I love so much.

"Liss? Oh shit... What happened?" He asked worriedly.

"She's pulling me in... I may...leave from time to time until I get the barriers...." YUP! Gone again..... Rose was in the middle of a tirade directed at the doctor as a pain hit, I don't know what she was saying beforehand but I didn't really want to know considering what she was saying now....

"............Unscathed... then _don't_ smile... _don't_ laugh and _don't_ piss me off!" The Doctor looked at Dimitri who just shrugged in reply... _I'd be scared too Doc! _I thought to myself.

"Okay then, put her on the bed, I'll have to do an exam to see what's going on, I'm sorry Rose, but it has to be done." _OH NO!!!_ I _really _need to get out of here.... I am _NOT_ going through this again.... _go back, go back, go back, go back..... _YES!!! I was now in Christian's arms and we were walking somewhere...

"Welcome back my love. Thought you'd like to be a little closer..." Oh...Funny! I was plenty close enough...

"Ah Christian...I'm being pulled into her head. I think I'm as close as I could get. But thanks for thinking of me." I was working really hard to bring up those barriers and considering I hadn't been pulled in for a little while I was pretty sure that I'd pulled it off.

"Do you want to go see how she is? The old fashioned way..." he said when he saw my expression.

"No, not yet. The doctor was about to do an exam before so I don't think I really want to...." _OH FOR SHIT SAKE! _

"Oh, _holy shit_...." Rose and I gritted our/her teeth and we breathed through the contraction. "You know, I wasn't kidding when I warned the doctor about not smiling. That went for you too." She said in an extremely menacing voice. _Oh good Lord_... This was just _way_ too fresh in my mind to be doing this all over again...

"I love you." Dimitri whispered to me..._Rose_! The contraction was waning and Rose looked down and I saw that I was... _Rose_ was now wearing a hospital gown. Thank God I hadn't been here when Dimitri changed her into _that_!

"Don't try to butter me up buster; you're not the one who has to push it out." I second that! I've _already_ pushed out two... I don't want to do a third... _get out, get out, get out!!! _Crap! It's not working....

"I would if I could my love." He _seriously_ didn't say that...did he? Oh, I think I'm going to have to hit him when I get the chance. That was _such_ a male thing to say... It's an easy thing to say when he knew bloody well that was never going to happen

"Shut up." Rose warned, but he smiled again. "Stop smiling Dimitri... I'm warning you." Rose said through her teeth. He scrunched his face up and pouted his lips...

"Is this better?" Hit him Rose... Hit him! Then she punched his arm.... YES!!!

_Oh... Can you hear me Rose?_ I called out to her... Nothing... Okay, get a grip Lissa... Barriers, get your barriers UP! I sighed in relief as I looked at Christian. "This is _NOT_ good!" I said to him. He tried to hide the smile but I saw it.

"What?" He said shrugging his shoulders. "You know Rose is going to love this hey. I can almost hear her now... _'Serves you right... you dragged me into your labour...' _How close do you think I am?" Christian said.

"Pretty close..." We both laughed softly but I felt another contraction hit. This time I was able to stay out of her head, but the pain was still there. I got a few flashes of what was going on in there, Janine was now in with them...so that was good. But before I could get too comfortable... _Wham!_ I was back with Rose! This pain was a doozy! It was like I'd been hit in the gut with a baseball bat, we were screaming now..._great_! I felt the waters break and I...she was gripping someone's hand like a vice. She opened her eyes to look at the doctor at the end of the bed.

"Okay, well...that should speed things up a bit." The Doctor said to us.

"This hurts more than before!" She yelled panting. "Something's wrong..." _Oh no it's not Rose... __this__ is labour. _You know, I'm a little perturbed that no-one told me the gory details of this when I was younger. If I'd known just how much it hurt, I probably would have done a better job with the contraception.

"No Rose, everything is fine. You were able to block Lissa's pain by the time she'd got to this point, and plus...this time it really is your body going through it." _Oh_....That's just bloody wonderful! She'd learnt to block me by this time.... Okay...I have to get out of here; I _really _don't want to be here for the next part. I concentrated really hard and then found I was back in my own head...again. Christian was holding me and smiled when he saw that I was back.

"I need to concentrate." I said to him.

"Do what you have to do." He said with a kiss. I sat in silence for another twenty minutes or so and then realised that I had finally been able to get the barriers up in my mind, keeping me from slipping back with Rose. I looked around and smiled as I saw everyone here.

"Having fun Cousin?" Adrian said with bloodshot eyes. I replied with a snort and a glare.

"Adrian, if I could wish for anything in this world right now, it would be that _you_ could feel what Rose and I were just going through." Everyone laughed as he scrunched up his face in mock disgust.

"Not on your life Cuz... I am extremely happy that I was born male; personally I'm glad that I get the job of putting them in...not getting them out!" He started to laugh but that was quickly cut off when Vikki whacked him around the back of his head.

"OW!" he yelled. "I was joking...sheesh!"

"Jokes are supposed to be funny Adrian. Do you see me smiling?" Man...she could be just as scary as her brother... I swear it must be something that Dhampirs were just born with...that built in ability to scare the crap out of you with just their voice!

Even though the barriers were up, I could still aware that she was in some serious pain, I could feel that she was tired too, but she was at the business end of it all now, so there was no stopping until...well, until I was an Aunty. I shut my eyes and started to breathe fast as I realised that the baby had been born... I got a rush of emotions, ones that I'd had too. When you first find out you're going to have a baby, you can't wait to meet him or her, then when they arrive, you worry that 'out here' in the big bad world, that they could get hurt. It's a very weird feeling... joy, excitement, fear, worry... all separate, yet all jumbled into one confusing emotion.

"What's going on?" Vikki asked me. "Is everything alright?"

"Well I know she's had the baby, hang on I'll go see what's going on... I'll be back soon." I quickly lowered my walls and slipped into Rose's head.

"My love... would you like meet your son?" My...Roses' heart doubled in size as she gazed into the face of her baby boy.

"Hello my darling. I've waited so long to meet you." I left as she bent down to kiss his head. This was her time... her special moment. I smiled as I came back and saw everyone looking at me...waiting.

"She's fine, everything's fine." I said smiling.

"Well...what did she have?" Asked Christian. As much as he would deny it, he was as excited about Rose's baby as the rest of us; he couldn't wait to be an Uncle. I looked between him and Vikki who looked like she was about to burst.

"We all now have a nephew." Christian nodded his head smiling, Vikki laughed jumping up and down, Oksana and Mark looked at each other wistfully and the other three spirit users all looked at each other like they were all members of an exclusive club and knew things that everyone else didn't know.

* * *

Rose's Point of View.

"I really don't know who he looks more like; I can see both of you in him, in equal parts. So who picked his names?" Liss asked.

"Dimitri did. He'd picked them after Yeva told him about her dream when Olena and her left for home. He just never told me about them." He smiled back to me but quickly went back to staring at his son.

"Do they have special meaning Dimitri?"

"Sort of," He finally tore his eyes off Aleksandr and looked at Liss. "Both are Russian, Aleksandr means 'Defender of Men' and Maksim means 'The Greatest'. Even without my grandmothers dream, these names are meant for someone as special as him." For so long I held a secret pain, the pain of knowing that I couldn't give Dimitri children... Everyone knew that Dhampirs couldn't have kids together. Trust me to prove them wrong! Now that pain was gone and I can't put into words what it meant to me to see his face at the moment, you'd go a long way to find a man more in love with his child than Dimitri was right now.

"Yeah, they suit him perfectly. He's so...beautiful..." It had now been four hours since I became a mother and watching Liss hold Aleksandr in her arms, I could see she was mesmerised by my little boy and I could tell by her eyes when she started to look at his aura. I felt her shock through the bond not long after and I wanted to see what she was seeing so I quickly went into her head. He glowed gold, not as strongly as Adrian, Robert or Yelena, but it was definitely gold. I'd never seen Lissa's aura because she couldn't look at herself, well I suppose I could have asked her to stand in front of a mirror so I could see, I just had never thought of that until now.

"He's gold..." I whispered once back in my own head.

"Spirit? He's a spirit user?" asked Dimitri. I nodded and looked to Adrian, Robert and Yelena who were standing against the wall. "How long have you known?" I asked them.

"We've known for a while." Said Robert indicating to Yelena and himself.

"He showed me when I went to him." Adrian said.

"He '_showed'_ you..?"

"Yeah... He's quite... 'enlightening' your son." His face held the same mesmerised look as Lissa's did as he looked to Aleksandr in Lissa's arms.

"What do you mean?" Dimitri asked him. Adrian glanced to Robert and who nodded back to him. They obviously knew something about our son that they hadn't told us about.

"As you've seen Rose, your son _is_ a spirit user, but with us... Liss, Robert and I, our powers didn't surface until we were about ten or eleven. Yelena and Aleksandr, they're different, their powers are from birth...well I should say from before birth. When I went to your child, I went there to see if he was thirsty; which he was but then I felt a tickle in my head like when Oksana touches your mind. It was him, he showed me images of my life from my own mind, images of all of us but when he showed me images of you and Dimitri, they came with the most pure love...he knew you; knew who you were to him." Tears rolled down my cheeks and I looked up to Dimitri and could see the intense emotion on his face. "He's a very special child; one who I think is going to be a force to be reckoned with." Just then Dimitri dropped his head and smiled as he shut his eyes.

"Are you alright?" I asked him as I put my hand on his forearm. He looked between me and our child before speaking.

"I suppose I can let you in on what Babushka told me before she left for home."

"Oh...finally. Why now?"

"Seems like the time is right. She said 'Your son will lead the future of our people, a future that will amaze everyone. His abilities will outshine all others.' Now I guess we'll find out what she meant." I saw Yelena's head tilt and her eyes went to 'that' place... Whose memories was she looking into? I saw shock cross her face and then she looked to Robert and his face took on the same shock as she showed him what she'd seen.

"What's going on you two?" I asked them. They looked into each other's eyes and I knew they were talking to one another. Robert walked over to me and sat on a chair in front of me.

"I have some things to tell you, have a seat Dimitri. There are things that I couldn't say before Aleksandr arrived, until I knew for certain." He said. I was getting a little impatient with his ramblings....

_If you don't hurry up and tell me Robert, I'm going to lose my cool... _He chuckled to himself as he took my hand.

"Patience Rose... Now, what I'm about to say is not a bad thing, alright." Dimitri and I both nodded silently. "There is something we didn't tell you about Yelena." I glanced at Dimitri wondering what else there was. "I told you before that Yelena was nineteen years old, well she is sort of."

"What do you mean...sort of?" I asked scared... Dimitri put his arm around my waist and held me close to him.

"Well, her body is roughly nineteen years in development, but she was only born ten years ago." The room suddenly fell quiet. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. She was only ten years old!!! I looked at my son in Lissa's arms and felt like the earth was starting to suck me in... Yelena's aging double what she should be? Will she only live half a life? Will my son? My mind rambled on and on....

"No Rose..." Robert said, he'd obviously heard my thoughts. "Aleksandr will grow fast until he matures and then from what I can see with Yelena, the growing stops, as does the aging by the looks of things. We won't know that conclusively for a few more years but from what we can tell at the moment, Yelena is not aging now." I closed my eyes and tried to comprehend what I had just been told, and then I thought of something...

"Are you saying that Yelena and Aleksandr will become....immortal?" There were gasps all around the room.

"I honestly don't know. If Yelena hasn't aged in the next five or so years then we'll have more answers, but at moment Rose, they are the only two of their kind. Yelena may very well be aging as we speak, but at an extremely slow rate, not immortal as such, just _very, very _long lived." Just then Lissa made a small gasp and everyone turned to face her, she was looking into my son's eyes and was utterly captivated and then she smiled.

"Alright little one." She said. She looked at me and held him out to me. "He wants you." I was confused.... I took my son; kissed his forehead and looked into his eyes, eyes that were exactly like his father's.

"You want me baby, are you hungry?" Then he told me yes.... well not exactly told me in words, not even feelings...I just knew, sort of like when you 'know' something is wrong with yourself, but you just can't say what.....you just know!

"He wants blood, Huh!" Dimitri said with a small smile on his lips. It seems that at only a few hours old, our son was capable of communication, in his own special way. Not with words...written or spoken and not with feelings either really, it was hard to describe how he did it, but when he... 'spoke' to you, you just knew it was him and what it was that he wanted. Dimitri squeezed my hand and left to go get him some blood. We knew from Yelena that this was probably going to be the case with Aleksandr so we were ready, for either possibility, it was lucky that Dr Walsh had come here with blood for me. Looking into his eyes, I could see why everyone was so taken with him; his eyes were like liquid pools of love.

* * *

It had now been a week since I'd finally met my beautiful son and we were now back at Court. He amazed me every time I laid eyes on him. Suddenly I remembered the feeling of pure, unadulterated love that Liss felt when she had her daughters. Dimitri...well, what can I say. He was still absolutely smitten with his son, and that ridiculous speed of his enabled him to get to his son before I had a chance. He became super aware of me and Aleksandr whenever anyone came over, it was like _we_ were his charges now, not Christian. The queen had given him four weeks leave as she could see that he wouldn't leave us easily, it went against everything in her to do that for us, but she wanted Liss at Court and didn't want to upset the applecart. She'd actually come to meet our son and was as captivated as everyone else when she held him. Aleksandr had a magnetism that no-one was immune to.

When my parents got back from their brief honeymoon, they came with a few 'additions'. Dimitri's whole family, Karolina and her kids, Sonya and her baby... they were all here at Court. I was sitting on our balcony with my son sleeping in my arms when Yeva came out and sat beside me.

"You're glowing Rose." She said with a smile. "Dimka told me that he told you of my dream."

"Yeah, he did. What does it mean?"

"I don't want to say too much Rose. Things need to play out the way they are meant to and if you know something now, then the future could change. And that is one thing that _cannot _happen under any circumstances." I knew she would say no more about it so I said the only thing I could....

"Babushka, would you like hold your great grandson?"


	52. A New Light Shines

**Finally.... Here it is. This is unfortunately the last chapter in this story. :-( Sad, I know... I'm going to miss writing  
it. But I'm still writing Alternate Universe, so it's not all bad! hehehe If there's anything that you want to know  
that I didn't cover in this chapter, just let me know and I'll get back to you. **

**I may end up doing a story to follow on from this, but it won't be for a little while as I'm trying to finish  
off my own original story. But I may work on it at the same time and have it  
all ready to put online in one foul swoop! hehehe You never know!!!**

**Anyway, thank you all so very, very much for all of your support while writing these two stories. I never thought  
I'd have it in me to write anything and you've all given me so much inspiration and advice. So thank you all  
from the bottom of my heart.  
Enjoy! Sandy.**

* * *

**Chapter Fifty Two**

**A New Light Shines.**

Yeva's Point of View

"_Roza NOW!" I could see Dimka standing behind a male strigoi and holding onto him for dear life, my heart thumped as I saw him try to stay out of the reach of its teeth. I did not understand what was going on, why would he endanger himself like that, why would he not just kill it and stay alive. Then I saw Rose, she was helping to hold the strigoi too. It still made no sense to me and then someone I did not recognise walked over and looked into the strigoi's eyes..._

"_Stand still." The young stranger said calmly. The strigoi's struggles died down and he just stood there looking at the young man. Dimka and Rose both relaxed and stepped back, I could not believe that they would do that, it was very obvious to me that the young man who had spoken to the strigoi was a Moroi and I could not understand why they would do such a reckless thing, but to my amazement, the strigoi made no attempt to attack. The young Moroi slowly walked around the strigoi looking him up and down... "How long have you been this way?" he asked._

"_Thirty years." The strigoi hissed. When the Moroi nodded and looked to Rose and Dimitri and I could not help but think how much he looked like my grandson, maybe he was related in some way to Dimka's father. Then the young Moroi reached out and put his hand over where the strigoi's heart once beat but now sat dormant. _

_The Moroi tilted his head to one side and smiled for a few seconds and then what happened next had me gasping. "Welcome back." The Moroi said... I started breathing rapidly as I saw the skin of the strigoi darken and the red in his eyes disappear to reveal deep green eyes. With a deep draw of breath the man that had spent the last thirty years killing innocent lives, breathed his first breath of air into his lungs. A tear fell onto his now alive cheeks and he let out a sob. I could see Rose and Dimitri smiling behind the now restored Dhampir and they reached out to hold his arms, but not in a restraining way, they were helping to steady him as the young Moroi spoke to him. "I can help you come to terms with your memories or I can wipe them and replace them with something else. Your life is yours again." The Dhampir looked at him confused..._

"_How did you...?"_

"_There is plenty of time for explanations; but for now just know that your life is restored, but there are a few changes that you need to be aware of and we will tell you about them soon."_

"_Thank you." Whispered the guardian weakly. "I don't know how...I'm ever going to repay you."_

"_You can repay me by helping us rid this world of strigoi."_

"_Anything." The dhampir said with conviction._

"_First you need to rest, then we'll talk about you helping us. A lot has happened to you tonight." The dhampir nodded. _

"_Aleksandr..." said Dimitri. "Yelena and Robert can talk to him some more if you'd like to get to the next one."_

"_Yes Dad, I know... How many did we capture tonight?" __Dad!__ ...no wonder he looked so much like Dimka._

"_Fifteen."_

"_Fifteen.... were you feeling energetic tonight?" My grandson smiled and wrapped an arm around his son's shoulders._

"_Just a little..."_

"_Are you sure you're not getting tired Aleks?" asked Rose._

"_Mom I'm fine, are you ever going to stop asking me that question?"_

"_No....never. It's my job to worry about you." I knew from a previous dream that Rose and Dimitri's son was going to change the world we lived in, but I did not know how...now I do. _

I woke up breathing fast, the dream was so vivid. The dream I'd had before Aleksandr was born showed me glimpses of him as a leader amongst our people, that his abilities would outshine the abilities of other Moroi, but I had no idea that he would be able to accomplish this. I looked over to my clock and realised that it had only been about three hours since Dimka rang to say that Rose had given birth to their child, he had also told us that he was a spirit user, but I already knew this. Because of how he came to be, their child was always going to be special; he was not dhampir nor was he a normal Moroi. The young French girl, Yelena was the closest in kind to him, but _he_ was born from a shadowkissed mother and a restored strigoi and that made him unique. I learnt a bit from Yelena about how they differed from normal Moroi, the last time I was with my grandson, but now I had more information about Dimka's son from the dream. I had to think if I was going to let others know of this revelation. Just then I felt a slight tingle in my mind. I knew this feeling, it was what one felt when Oksana reached into your mind, but I knew that she would not do that to me without asking first, so it had to be someone else. Images of my dream flicked through my mind in fast forward; whoever it was, was very powerful.

_Who is here?_ I asked silently.

_It is me, Yelena. I am sorry if I worried you Ms Belikova, Dimitri just told Rose about your dream and my mind instantly came to you. I've seen your dream...he really is the brightest gift to ever come into our world isn't he. _

_Yes, he is. One that must be protected at all costs._

_Definitely, I have to go but I'll see you soon_. She said. I smiled as I realised that she had also seen the fact that Rose's parents would be bringing my whole family back to the US next week. Ibrahim would be calling me in the next two hours to tell me of his plans.

_Yes, I will see you next week._ Then I felt her leave my head. I wondered if she would tell the others what she saw in my memories, but I am fairly sure that she knows of the dangers of knowing too much before it actually happens. I was confident that she would not say anything to the others.

Within a few days my family was boarding the private jet which belonged to Rose's father. I would soon be meeting the child who I now knew was the key to the survival of both the Moroi and Dhampir races. I never thought that I would see an end to the strigoi in my lifetime, maybe I will not be around for the final battle, but I knew that it was coming...with _my_ great grandson at the helm. The trip back to the states was a tedious one, and as tired as I was when we got there, I was as excited as a child on Christmas morning once we landed. We arrived at JFK first and then once processed, we flew to the Royal Court.

"Mama." Dimitri said as he embraced his mother.

"Pozdravleniya Dimka, I cannot wait to meet your son."

"He is beautiful Mama." He said proudly. "Thank you for doing this Abe. It means a lot to have my family here with me."

"You're welcome Dimitri." Abe was a very different man to the one I'd always known. He still held a feared reputation in our world, but to those who were closest to him saw a completely different man. I knew he would do anything for those he loved, even if it meant his life.

After we said our hellos we were driven back to the apartment building where we had stayed before. Apparently, Lord Ivashkov was able to secure the whole wing for our family's arrival so that we would all be together. Our bags were taken to our suites and Olena and I were once again sharing with Viktoria, she would be going back to St Vladimir's in week's time so we would be more comfortable after that. We made plans with Dimitri to meet them all at their apartment after we had freshened up from the flight, so I made sure I did not take too long.

We knocked on the door and we were all greeted with kisses from Dimitri.

"Come in Babushka, Mama."

"Where is my new grandchild?" I asked him.

"Rose has him out on the balcony."

"I won't take too long." I said letting everyone know that I wanted time alone with them. I walked outside into the setting sunlight and looked at Rose and her son. She was looking at him in absolute awe, and looking at his eyes in person; I could see why. I sat down beside her and smiled.

"You're glowing Rose. Dimka told me that he told you of my dream."

"Yeah, he did. What does it mean?" She asked after she hugged me.

"I do not want to say too much Rose. Things need to play out the way they are meant to and if you know something now, then the future could change. And that is one thing that _cannot _happen under any circumstances." She looked at me like she really wanted to know more, but she was a smart girl and she knew me well enough now not to ask more about it as I would not say any more.

"Babushka, would you like to hold your great grandson?" I smiled and nodded to her. She lifted the child into my arms and I placed him on my lap so that I could look directly into his eyes. They were the exact same color as his fathers, but they were so bright, so aware for a child so young.

"Privet malysh." I said as I smiled to him. "You are a very special little boy Aleksandr; I cannot wait to see you grow and fulfil your destiny." Just then I could have sworn I heard him say hello, but he was only a week old and it was impossible.

"Did he just speak to you Babushka?" Rose said to me.

"What?"

"By the look on your face, I'd say you're trying to work out if you really did hear correctly." I must have had a blank look on my face as she let out a slight giggle before continuing. "Aleksandr is a very forward child Babushka; he has his own special way of communicating. He doesn't speak to you as such; he just puts his thoughts into your head. If you think he spoke to you, then he did." I looked back to this little baby in my arms and I suddenly realised why Rose was looking at him in awe when I arrived. I would challenge anyone to meet him and not be totally captivated.

"I will tell you one thing Rose." I said as I looked at her. "This ability of his is just the tip of the iceberg." She was about to ask me what I meant by that but Dimitri came up behind us and kissed Rose on the top of her head.

"Roza, the others are chomping at the bit to meet Aleksandr."

"Babushka is having a chat with him at the moment, but we'll be there soon."

"No, no... We have our whole lives to get to know each other; I know Olena is just as excited to meet him as I am." When we walked back into the apartment I noticed that everyone was here including Robert and Yelena. I wanted to talk to them so I handed Aleksandr over to my daughter and kissed him goodbye and then went over to them.

"Ms Belikova." They both said in greeting.

"Mr Doru, Ms Zahkov." I said nodding my head. Some guardian habits were hard to break.

"Please, call me Robert."

"And Yelena... I hope your flight wasn't too tiring." She said.

"No, I was very excited to meet this incredible young man, so I had plenty to occupy my mind."

"I'd like to apologize for what happened the other day. I've never been pulled into someone's mind before like that, it was very weird." Yelena said.

"Thank you, I had only been awake from the dream a few minutes when you came to me, I did not realise it was an older version of Aleksandr until they addressed each other."

"Yes, when I saw your dream, I showed Robert immediately and we are both astounded to see what is in his future. We have not said anything to them about it as we do not wish to alter what is to come."

"Thank you, I too think it is wise to let it all play out the way it is meant to. The strigoi will not know what hit them when Aleksandr comes out to play." They nodded and smiled as we all watched Olena become aware of what her new grandson was capable of doing.

* * *

**Five Years Later**

Rose's Point of View

"Aleksandr! Get your ass down here now..." I yelled. Between him and me, it was a wonder that we ever got somewhere on time. Dimitri would just stand there shaking his head as he watched us running around like chooks with their heads cut off. Aleks may look like his father but there was an awful lot of me in him too, far too much for his own good according to my mother.

"Alright, I'm coming... gees..." He yelled from upstairs somewhere.

"Watch your mouth boy." I yelled back. Amazingly I was ready and was standing beside the love of my life at the front door. Liss had the girls in the car ready for their first day at school, they had got so big and they were as stunningly beautiful as their mother but with Christian's sapphire blue eyes. Andrea was a typical princess and loved dressing up in fairy costumes all the time whereas Rozalina or Lina as we called her, was a little rougher. She came with Christian to all of his practises and pronounced that when she was old enough, she too was going to learn how to fight. She had a lot of spine that girl...I liked her a lot! Aleks was off to his private lessons for the day, but it was hard to watch him grow up so quickly...he was going to miss out on so much because of it, but he said not to worry because he loved his life... this was where he most resembled his father. Because of his abilities, special classes had been set up for him. He was now at the developmental size and age of roughly ten years old, he was exceptionally intelligent...genius level apparently and his fighting ability was off the charts for a child of his age.

"What?" I asked Dimitri. He was looking up at the stairs and laughing quietly to himself.

"Just something Christian said the other day..." Oh, now I really did have to know...

"What did he say?"

"Ah... let me see if I can remember the exact words..." He looked up trying to retrieve the conversation from his mind. ".... 'I've never known two people who could be so consistently late as Rose and Aleks, and you get to spend the rest of your life with them...how lucky are you.'.... personally, I think I'm the luckiest man on this earth."

"Nice save hot stuff... I think you're pretty lucky too!" I said with a wink. "Just imagine how utterly boring your life would have been without me to spice things up."

"Mmm... That you do maya krasaveetsa... 'spicy' is one word that suits you very well." He wrapped his arms around me and gave me one of those kisses that makes me go all weak at the knees.

"Oh, come on you two... there's a kid present! Are you _trying_ to give me nightmares?" I gave him a playful whack around the back of the head for his troubles as he ran past us to get into the car. Luckily he got his quick wit from me...much to everyone else's chagrin.

"Little toad! He gets that smart mouth from you, you know..." I said to Dimitri.

"The only thing he got from me was his good looks my love. Everything else is you to a tee... and I wouldn't have it any other way!" We all got into the car and drove over to the education block. Liss had it built as soon as she became queen. She didn't want her girls going away for their schooling and she knew that Aleksandr would have special needs so this was the 'perfect solution' as she called it. After getting the girls settled in and saying our goodbyes to Aleks we drove to the medical centre. I was so excited I could hardly contain myself as I pushed the door open.

"Let me see..." Lissa squealed... Vikki sat on the bed holding her beautiful little boy in her arms; Adrian sat on the edge of the bed beside her with a grin that stretched from one side of his face to the other. "Oh.... He's so beautiful. Gees, you Belikov's certainly make stunning babies hey!"

"That they do Liss, although I may be a little biased myself...." I said.

"Congratulations Sestrenka, you too Adrian... I couldn't be happier for both of you." Dimitri shook Adrian's hand and then wrapped both him and Vikki up in his arms for a hug. I look back on the tension that was once between Dimitri and Adrian and it seems like a million years ago, they are like brothers now and it couldn't make me happier.

"Wanna hold Uncle Dimitri?" Vikki asked. He loved being an uncle, he just loved kids. Even Lissa's girls called him Uncle.

"So what's his name?"

"This is Nikolai Dmitri Ivashkov." Vikki said proudly.

"Thank you..." he whispered. "You didn't have to do that, but it means so much to me."

"I couldn't think of anyone that I would want to name him after more than you brother." Adrian said. Dimitri very rarely showed vulnerable emotions to anyone other than me, but when he did, everyone could see how deep his feelings went. Adrian and Vikki were married just over a year ago to much pomp and ceremony thanks to Lissa. I don't think Tatiana was very happy about it though. She'd tried to set Vikki up a couple of years ago to make it seem like she was after his money and to cash in on the Ivashkov name, but it didn't work. I don't know how she expected to hide something like that from a man who could make _anyone_ tell him the truth... Adrian went berserk, to the point where even his father had to come and tell him to stop and apologise. Personally, I enjoyed the show... Tatiana learned the hard way not to piss of a spirit user!

From what we can tell, Yelena doesn't appear to be aging; she still looked the same as when I first met her. This is good in a way, at least I know that Aleks will lead a long life, but sad too knowing that he is going to have to watch everyone he loves die around him. We are exceptionally close to Yelena; and she is an integral part of our very extensive family. She has helped teach Aleks how to control his powers which continue to astound us every day. He is like Yelena in the fact that he has an equal ability to control all four elements, he's not quite as strong as Yelena yet, but I don't think it will take him very long. He still communicates silently to us, although now it's more in words...like how I speak to Liss. This makes Christian happy too because he's finally able to speak to someone silently now. But Aleks is able to extend his ability so that others can talk together too, like me and Dimitri. Liss is teaching him how to heal, Adrian is teaching him how to dream walk and Robert and Yelena have also taught him a few things.

I would probably have stopped these teaching sessions before they even began if it hadn't been for Yeva's dream a few years ago, the one she's never elaborated on. I know that Yelena and Robert know what she saw but they were all adamant that they didn't want to jeopardise the future by saying something about it, so I thought it must be some pretty special future, so Aleks probably needs to know all of this stuff. In the last five years, more spirit users have been found from around the world and they have all been brought here from time to time. Some have stayed, some have gone back to set up special classes at Academies around the world so that they can find young spirit users early and teach them how to handle their gifts from a young age.

Liss also made a law that allows any Moroi who wishes to learn self defence or defensive magic can do so without prejudice. At first there wasn't many stepping forward and we thought that we were fighting a losing battle, but after a major strigoi attack at an academy in Russia where many Moroi children and adults were killed or turned, they finally started coming to us. They were mainly fire users but we've become quite creative with the water, air and earth users. Mia and Tyler Mitchell ended up getting married and they teach some of the defence classes here at Court. Mia is very committed to ensuring the survival of both Moroi and Dhampirs and the eradication of Strigoi. My mother and father visit regularly and I'm glad to say that they are very happy together; my mother actually smiles now...a lot! It was quite freaky at first, but we've all become more used to the look... Oksana and Mark make yearly visits too, but they're busy at the academy that Dimitri graduated from, so it's great to see them when they get here.

Alberta is still at St Vlad's; along with Kirova and Alto, they said that if they could survive me all the way up to graduation, then they could get anyone through! Although I can think of a few that have tested that theory in the last couple of years.

Tasha has been a God send and I now count her as one of my close friends, who would have _ever _thought that we would get this close! She, along with Mia, teach the defensive magic classes and Tyler, Mclean and Bishop are full time fighting instructors. A lot has happened in the last five years in the Moroi world and there is a positive feeling amongst us all that more will be accomplished in the years to come, especially after the battle here at the Royal Court just over a year ago. Strigoi had humans stake the wards like they did at the Badica house all those years ago and we had a major infiltration happen, but we had a large number of Moroi already trained and rearing to go and it made _all_ the difference. We think that there was approximately 80 to 90 Strigoi who came in but only a handful got away, and out of the nearly 4000 Moroi and Dhampir who call the Royal Court home, only eight Moroi and five Dhampir were killed. After word of our success in this battle, the numbers of Moroi willing to fight increased tenfold. Classes here at Court are held seven days a week for both races and for the first time in a long time, I can see a happy future for our kind.

After kissing Vikki and Adrian goodbye and one last hug for my new nephew, Liss, Christian, Dimitri and I all went to the cafe before having to go pick up the kids from school. Dimitri and I had our regular hot chocolates and donuts, well _I _had the donuts... and Liss and Christian had their regular coffee's.

_Rose... How have you been feeling lately? _Liss asked me.

_Fine...why?_

_Not a little bit queasy at all? _I looked at her confused, and then saw in her mind why she was asking me that and I gasped in shock.

"No!" I said under my breath with my eyes nearly bugging out of their sockets...

"What's wrong?" asked Dimitri and Christian at the same time...

_Are you sure Liss?_

_Yes Rose... I can feel its presence... _Lissa's ability with spirit had grown a lot in the last five years, too much to talk about now, but one of the things she could do now was being able to sense life forms.

"Nothing's wrong. I think we're pregnant again." I said. A huge grin spread across Dimitri's face and before I knew what was happening, he'd scooped me up into his arms and kissed me in the middle of the cafe... Very _UN-_Dimitri!

**The End.**

Some Translations....

Pozdravleniya Dimka, means "Congratulations Dimka."

Privet malysh means "Hello little one."

Sestrenka means "Little sister."


End file.
